Amid a decline in the number of women elected this year to the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress boasts of the highest percentage of female MPs among its winning candidates.
A total of 38% of Trinamool MPs this year are women, the highest among any political outfit in the country, according to data analysed by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The 18th Lok Sabha is set to witness a total of 74 female members, a dip from the 77 MPs elected in the last term.
11 out of 12
Trinamool’s female candidates in the 2024 Lok Sabha election have delivered a high success rate. Out of 12 women fielded by the party this year, 11 won the electoral contest. Only in Bishnupur, Trinamool’s Sujata Mondal suffered a defeat against BJP’s Saumitra Khan by 5,567 votes.
The women MPs elected from Trinamool include Saayoni Ghosh from Jadavpur, Rachana Banerjee from Hooghly, Satabdi Roy from Birbhum, Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar, June Maliah from Midnapore, Sharmila Sarkar from Bardhaman Purba, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar from Barasat, Sajda Ahmed from Uluberia, Mala Roy from Kolkata Dakshin, Mitali Bag from Arambagh, and Pratima Mondal from Joynagar.
According to the candidates’ self-sworn affidavits, Ms. Bag has emerged as the MP with one of the lowest self-declared assets in the 18th Lok Sabha, worth around ₹7 lakh. The MP with the lowest net asset of just over ₹5 lakh, BJP’s Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, also hails from West Bengal and was elected from Purulia constituency.
90% crorepatis
Notably, 90% of winning candidates from West Bengal are crorepatis. Trinamool’s Shatrughan Sinha, who won from Asansol, declared the highest total assets among all winning candidates in West Bengal, pegged at over ₹210 crore. As many as 27 out of 29 Trinamool MPs, including Mr. Sinha, are self-declared crorepatis.
Meanwhile, over half of all elected MPs from West Bengal have declared criminal cases against them, according to self-sworn information gathered by ADR from the candidates’ affidavits. Seven of them across political affiliations have been charged with serious criminal offences, namely murder, attempt to murder, and crimes against women.
“The percentage of tainted candidates has been increasing among MPs elected from West Bengal,” noted Ujjaini Halim, the State coordinator of West Bengal Election Watch, an initiative supported by ADR. She added that in 2009, there were seven (17%) tainted candidates (out of 42), in 2014 it went up to eight (19%), and in 2019 it increased to 23 (55%). In 2024, there are 22 (52%) elected members.
