In 1957, there were just 45 women candidates contesting the Lok Sabha election; by 2019, this figure had risen to 726, Election Commission data shows, even as the percentage of women in Parliament has increased from 4.5% in 1957 to 14.4% in 2019. The number of male candidates, on the other hand, has grown from 1,474 in 1957 to 7,322 in 2019.
This means that the number of men contesting has multiplied by five times; for women, the growth has been 16-fold. In 1957, a mere 2.9% of candidates were women; in 2019, they make up around 9% of the total pool of candidates. However, the number of women candidates has never yet crossed 1,000.
Gender-wise data is not available for the first general election in 1952.
