Rajasthan polls: A look at the success rate of female candidates in last 35 years

livemint.com:

Women's Reservation Bill earlier this year. In poll-bound Rajasthan, the share of women among the total candidates in the fray is low – at 183 out of 1,875. In the outgoing Assembly, 24 out of the 200 MLAs were women, forming 12 percent of the legislative strength.

This is way lower than the 50 percent legislative share of women, as envisaged in the women's reservation law that is expected to come into effect after a few years following the next census. Here's a look at the success rate of female candidates in the last 35 years. The share of women candidates, along with the number of female MLAs being elected, has risen over the past the past three decades.

In 1977, only seven women MLAs were elected, out of the 32 who had contested, as per the data available with the Election Commission. In 1980, the number of female contestants came in at 31, whereas, 10 among them were elected. Also Read: Rajasthan poll: Rahul Gandhi calls PM Modi 'panauti' over World Cup final defeat, BJP leader demands apology In the 1985 polls, 44 women candidates were in the fray, and 16 among them won.

In 1990, the number of female candidates increased to 87, but those winning among them came down to 11. In 1993, the number of women candidates again went up and stood at 90. However, the success rate dwindled as only nine among them were elected.

In the next Assembly election in 1998, women candidates in the fray came down to 69, but the number of those who won among them increased to 14. Also Read: Rajasthan Election 2023: Here's what Sachin Pilot thinks Congress needs to introspect on The year 2003 saw a significant jump in the number of women contestants, at 118. Out of them, however, only 12 were successfully elected.