Stree Shakti: The winning women of Gujarat
Updated: Jun 5th, 2024
In the political landscape of Gujarat, four women candidates were among the 26 winners in the Lok Sabha election.
The elected women (member of parliament) MPs from Gujarat include Poonam Maadam from Jamnagar, Geni Thakor from Banaskantha, Nimu Bambhaniya from Bhavnagar, and Shobhana Baraiya from Sabarkantha.
In Bhavnagar, a contest ensued between AAP and Congress joint candidate Umesh Makwana and BJP’s Bambhaniya. However, the latter dealt a massive blow to the INDIA candidate by winning with a margin of 4,55,289 votes in Bhavnagar.
Maadam has been elected as an MP for the third consecutive time after the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Sabarkantha’s Shobhana Baraiya
BJP candidate Shobhana Baraiya from Sabarkantha defeated Tushar Chaudhari of Congress by a margin of 1,55,682 votes. Mani Patel, daughter of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had become an MP from the Sabarkantha constituency in 1973. Between 1996 and 1999, Congress candidate Nisha Chaudhary was the MP of Sabarkantha. So, after over two decades, Sabarkantha got a woman MP.
Geni Thakor of Banaskantha
Meanwhile, Banaskantha got a woman MP after six decades (62 years). Though with a narrow margin of 30,000 votes, Geni Thakor was the lone winner for Congress in Gujarat, breaking the clean sweep for the third time for BJP in PM Modi’s home state.
Notably, Thakor is the first woman MP of Banaskantha after Zohra Chavda who was elected as MP in the third Lok Sabha election in 1962.
With Bharat Sutariya’s win in the Amreli Lok Sabha constituency, Jenny Thakor, the Congress candidate failed to clinch the position of MP. Sonal Patel of Congress also lost by a massive margin against Amit Shah in Gandhinagar.
In 1962, Jaya Shah had won from the Amreli constituency.
Which constituencies never saw women MPs in Gujarat?
The constituencies where there has never been a woman MP include Ahmedabad West, Gandhinagar, Porbandar, Patan, Panchmahal, Kheda, Bharuch, Valsad, and Navsari.
Of the total 266 candidates who were in the fray in Gujarat, only 19 were women. During the previous elections, Gujarat saw the highest number of six women MPs from the state.
Also read:
Top 10 candidates with highest winning margins in Gujarat
BJP sweeps Saurashtra-Kutch in Lok Sabha elections, fails in Banaskantha
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