59 women MPs in new parliament

A record 59 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, with a majority - 23 - belonging to the Congress party alone, the Election Commission said Monday.

A record 59 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha, with a majority - 23 - belonging to the Congress party alone, the Election Commission said Monday.

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In all, 556 women had contested the 2009 general elections.

While the Congress topped the list, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came second with 13 women being elected.

The All India Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) follow with four women each getting elected to the Lok Sabha.

The Janata Dal-United, Shiromani Akali Dal and Nationalist Congress Party have two women MPs each.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Shiv Sena, DMK and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) have one woman MP each, according to the statement.

In the 2004 polls, 355 women contested the elections of whom 45 won.

In 1999, 284 women had contested the elections and 49 were elected.

Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of 13 women MPs to represent the most populous state. It is followed by West Bengal with seven women MPs.

In Madhya Pradesh, six women parliamentarians were elected, while in Andhra Pradesh five women candidates won. Gujarat, Bihar and Punjab have four women MPs each.