Lucknow: Several Women Voted in the UP Assembly Election This Year, But Only One Won at the Hustings

Even though the number of women voters casting ballots in the 2022 assembly election grew in every one of Lucknow’s 9 constituencies compared to 2017, women’s participation in the assembly has decreased.

Jai Devi from Malihabad

According to records, the number of women voters grew by 1.3 lakhs in 2022, yet just one woman was elected to the UP assembly: Jai Devi from Malihabad. Her win over SP was by a margin of 7,745 votes.

In 2012, there were over 7 lakh female voters; in 2017, there were over 9 lakhs, and in 2022, there will be over ten lakhs, indicating that women are becoming more aware of their democratic rights and responsibilities. Nevertheless, the rising number of female voters has not resulted in the election of a female representative. In reality, throughout the last three elections, the number of female candidates has gradually fallen.

Women candidates in 2022

Various political parties fielded 21 woman candidates in 2012. In 2017, just 18 women were awarded tickets across eight constituencies, while in 2022, only 12 women were provided tickets across 8 constituencies because Lucknow Cantt seemed to have no woman candidate.

The sole solace in this regard came from SP’s Pooja Shukla, who ran a close race against sitting MLA from Lucknow North Dr. Neeraj Bora, as well as from the SP’s Amresh Kumar, who ran a close race against BJP’s Amresh Kumar in Mohanlalganj. Shukla was defeated by a margin of roughly 30,000 votes, while he was defeated by a margin of around 16,500 votes. Sadaf Jafar, a member of Congress, was unable to secure even 5,000 votes.

Looking back, 18 women were provided tickets to run in the 2017 election. Swati Singh from Sarojininagar,  Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Cantt, and Jai Devi from Malihabad, all favoring the BJP, were chosen as female representatives in the official results.

According to data from the Election Commission of India, only two women MLAs won in 2012, even though women were offered 21 tickets. The winners were Chandra Rawat (SP) from Mohanlalganj as well as Congress from Cantt.