73 women candidates elected to Lok Sabha, lower than 2019
NEW DELHI, June 5: A total of 73 women have won the Lok Sabha elections, a slight dip from 78 elected in 2019.Of the total women MPs elected to the Lower House from across the country, West Bengal is leading with 11 female MPs.A total of 797 women candidates had contested the elections with the BJP fielding the maximum at 69 followed by the Congress at 41.This is the first election since the passage of the women’s reservation bill in the Parliament to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. The law is yet to come into effect.According to an analysis of the Election Commission data, BJP’s 30 women candidates won the polls this time, Congress’ 14, TMC’s 11, four of the Samajwadi Party’s, three of the DMK, and two each of the JDU and LJP(R).With over 13.44 per cent female MPs, the 18th Lok Sabha will have one of the highest number of women members since 1952.The 17th Lok Sabha had the highest number of women parliamentarians at 78, constituting over 14 per cent of the total strength.In the 16th Lok Sabha, 64 women were its members, while 52 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha.BJP’s Hema Malini, TMC’s Mahua Moitra, NCP’s Supriya Sule, and SP’s Dimple Yadav retained their seats in the Lok Sabha polls, but candidates like Kangna Ranaut and Misha Bharati stole the show with their victories.Samajwadi Party’s 25-year-old candidate for Machhlishahr, Priya Saroj, and 29-year-old Iqra Choudhary of Kairana seat, were among the youngest nominees to secure a victory.Notably, the parties like Naam Tamilar Katchi has achieved equal gender representation with 50 per cent women candidates.Other parties with significant female representation included Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Nationalist Congress Party, each with 40 per cent women candidates.The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) both had 33 per cent female representation, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had 29 per cent. The Samajwadi Party had 20 per cent, and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) 25 per cent.A total of 8,360 candidates were in the fray in the parliamentary polls.Three transgender candidates contested the elections independently. But all of them lost in the polls. (PTI)
24 Muslim candidates win LS seats, two less than 2019
NEW DELHI, June 5: As many as 24 Muslim candidates across the country have won the Lok Sabha elections and they include former cricketer Yusuf Pathan of the Trinamool Congress from Bahrampur in West Bengal and Congress’ Rakibul Hussain from Dhubri in Assam.However, the community’s presence in the 18th Lok Sabha has reduced marginally from 26 last time but is higher than the 2014 tally when 23 Muslim candidates were elected to the lower house of Parliament.As many as 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.Among the Muslim candidates who won this time, Rakibul Hussain’s victory in Dhubri was significant in terms of the winning margin. The Congress candidate secured 14.71 lakh votes and defeated his nearest rival Mohammad Badruddin Ajmal by one of the highest margins of about 10 lakh votes.On the other hand, first-time contender Yusuf Pathan beat Congress leader in the Lok Sabha and six-time MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by 85,022 votes in his Baharampur bastion in West Bengal.Congress candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, Imran Masood, won by a margin of 64,542 votes while Iqra Choudhary, a 29-year-old Samajwadi Party candidate from Kairana, secured victory over BJP’s Pradeep Kumar by 69,116 votes.Afzal Ansari, the incumbent MP from Ghazipur and the younger brother of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, retained the seat by bagging 5.3 lakh votes while 28-year-old Iqra Choudhary won the Kairana seat by a margin of over 69,000 votes.Samajwadi Party’s Mohibbullah won the Rampur seat by securing 4,81,503 votes, while Zia Ur Rehman won in Sambhal by a margin of 1.2 lakh votes.AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi retained his Hyderabad seat by a margin of 3,38,087 votes over his nearest rival BJP’s Madhavi Latha Kompella.In Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference’s Srinagar candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, a prominent Shia leader, secured 3,56,866 votes and won by a margin of 1.88 lakh votes against his nearest rival PDP’s Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra.Mian Altaf Ahmad of the National Conference won in Anantnag-Rajouri by 2,81,794 votes against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.In Ladakh, Independent candidate Mohammad Haneefa secured a victory by a margin of 27,862 votes while another Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh won Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla seat by bagging 4.7 lakh votes.In Bihar, Congress’ Tariq Anwar won the Katihar seat after a close contest with JD(U) candidate Dulal Chandra Goswami. Anwar won by a margin of 49,863 votes. (PTI)
Two candidates in jail with terror charges win LS polls
NEW DELHI, June 5: Two candidates currently lodged in prison on terror charges emerged winners in the just-concluded parliamentary election, giving rise to an unusual situation for the 18th Lok Sabha to be formed in the coming days.While the law will keep them from attending the proceedings of the new House, they do have the constitutional right to take oath as MPs.The Election Commission declared the results of the Lok Sabha polls on Tuesday. While radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh won Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib seat, terror financing accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, emerged victorious on Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla seat.Engineer Rashid has been lodged in Tihar jail since August 9, 2019, on charges of terror financing. Singh was arrested in April 2023 under the National Security Act and sent to the Dibrugarh prison in Assam.The question now arises if these jailed newly elected MPs will be allowed to take the oath, and if yes, how.Explaining the legalities involved, Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achari emphasised the importance of following the constitutional provisions in such cases.Being sworn in as a MP is a constitutional right, he said.But because they are currently in prison, Engineer Rashid and Singh must seek permission from authorities to be escorted to Parliament for the oath-taking ceremony.Once they have taken the oath, they will have to return to prison. After they have taken oath, they will write to the Speaker, informing him or her about their inability to attend the House.The Speaker will then refer their requests to the House Committee on Absence of Members.The committee will recommend whether the member should be allowed to remain absent from House proceedings or not. The recommendation is then put to vote in the House by the Speaker. If they are to be convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years, they would lose their seats in the Lok Sabha (PTI)