Delhi's lone woman MP Lekhi got less votes than AAP's Birla

New Delhi, May 18: BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi, the only woman representative from Delhi in the 16th Lok Sabha, had a lower vote share than Aam Aadmi Party's Rakhi Birla among the 13 women candidates who contested from the national capital.

Lekhi, who defeated her nearest rival of AAP Ashish Khetan by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes in the prestigious New Delhi constituency, secured 4,53,350 votes which is less than Birla's 5,23,058 votes.

Rakhi, an MLA from Mongolpuri, contested from North West Delhi constituency where BJP's Udit Raj defeated her by a margin of 1.06 lakh votes.

Among other prominent women candidates who contested from Delhi, former Union Minister Krishna Tirath, Congress candidate from North West Delhi Parliamentary seat, secured 1,57,468 votes.

Performance by women candidates of regional and smaller parties -- including TMCs' Sreerupa Mita Chaudhury (803), Rashtriya Janmorcha's Musarrat Jahan (592), Bhartiya Pragatisheel Congress's Rashmi Kashyap (538) -- was dismal.

In South Delhi constituency, independent candidate Ruby Yadav threw up a surprise by getting 56,749 votes. Another independent Kamini Kaur, candidate from North-West Delhi constituency, got 666 votes.

The maximum number of female candidates were in New Delhi seat -- five women out of a total 29 candidates. While there were two constituencies West Delhi and North East Delhi which did not see a single woman nomination.

PTI