Election Highlights: Get to Know the Women Who Won Big in India’s Elections

In the recent general elections, many women candidates won in their areas, showing their growing role in Indian politics. Notable winners include Congress’ Kumari Selja, Bharatiya Janta Party’s Kangana Ranaut and Hema Malini, Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav, and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Misa Bharti. However, some well-known candidates like Smriti Irani from Amethi and Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur lost their seats.

Kumari Selja won big in Haryana’s Sirsa Lok Sabha seat, while Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, secured victory in New Delhi. A total of 797 women contested in this election.

Actor Kangana Ranaut, in her first political race with BJP, won in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, while Hema Malini held onto her Mathura seat. Dimple Yadav won comfortably in Mainpuri, and Misa Bharti emerged victorious in Bihar’s Pataliputra.

In West Bengal, Mahua Moitra from Trinamool Congress and Kanimozhi Karunanidhi from DMK retained their seats.

Young candidates like Priya Saroj from Samajwadi Party and Iqra Choudhary from Kairana also secured wins.

Though fewer women won this time compared to the last elections, over 30 women have secured victories so far.

After 12 hours of vote counting, BJP emerged as the largest party with 240 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, but it’s fewer than their previous win of 303 seats.

Re-reported from the article originally published in BUSINESS STANDARD.