Maharashtra assembly election: For 288 seats, BJP, Shiv Sena, Congress field only 38 women candidates

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New Delhi: Women candidates form just seven percent of the current Vidhan Sabha strength in Maharashtra. And this comes amid the fact that most of the political parties banking on the strong female voter base in the state. Most of the parties' campaign in the recent past saw politicians attracting women voters, who form a strong base for the electoral bank.

In the 288-member assembly constituencies, only 20 are occupied by women. In the upcoming assembly election too, around 200 women candidates are contesting the election, either on party tickets or as independents, out of approximately 3,000 candidates in the fray for the October 21 election.

Out of total 3,237 candidates in the fray for assembly elections in Maharashtra, 3,001 are male and only 235 women with a  transgender candidate contesting from the Chinchwad assembly constituency. 

Take a look at a list below on party-wise female candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election:

BJP: 17
Shiv Sena: 7
Congress: 14
NCP: 8

Regions:

Mumbai: 32 
Konkan: 40 
North Maharashtra: 27 
Western Maharashtra: 44 
Marathwada: 33 
Vidarbha: 59

At least 668 women contested the 2014 general assembly elections out of which 65 managed to get a seat as against 22 out of 45 women, who contested the Lok Sabha election in 1957. As per Election Commission figures, the success rate of women candidates declined from nearly 50 percent in 1957 to nearly 12 percent in 2014.