Politics and law making institutions have always been dominated by upper-caste men. It is extremely crucial to have all voices in law making institutions and not to forget the intersectionalities of it. However, with changing times more women politicians are making way in law making institutions. In 2019, the Lok Sabha Elections constituencies embraced young women from various backgrounds. Below are eight young fierce women who braced the 17th Lok Sabha in 2019 General Elections.
1. Remya Haridas
32 year old, Remya Haridas is the second ever Dalit woman MP from Alathur, Kerala. Remya is the member of the Indian National Congress and is the only female parliamentarian to be elected from Kerala in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. She resorted to crowd funding campaign for her election expenses raising more than Rs 10 lakhs.
2. Chandrani Murmu
26 year old, Chandrani Murmu is the youngest MP in the 17th Lok Sabha from Keonjhar, Odisha, a member of the Biju Janata Dal. She completed her degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 from Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar. She had been preparing for competitive exams when she decided to join politics. She is also daughter of former MP Hariharan Soren who also won from Keonjhar in 1980 and 1984.
3. Agatha K Sangma
38 year old, Agatha Kongkal Sangma is the Member of Parliament of India from Meghalaya. In 2009 she became the youngest MP ever in Lok Sabha from the Tura constituency of Meghalaya as a candidate of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). She has an LLB degree from Pune University and then joined Delhi High Court. She also did her Masters in Environmental Management from the University of Nottingham, UK.
4. Mahua Moitra
Mahua Moitra is the Member of Parliament from Krishnanagar, West Bengal as a candidate from All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party. She was the vice president of JPMorgan Chase Bank in New York and London. She quit her position in 2009 to enter Indian politics. In 2016, she was elected as an MLA from the Karimpur constituency in Nadia district, West Bengal. She is a graduate in economics and mathematics from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, United States.
5. Goddeti Madhavi
27 year old, Goddeti Madhavi is the youngest MP from Andhra Pradesh in the 17th Lok Sabha. She won from the Araku Lok Sabha constituency as a YSR Congress candidate. She won the election with a huge majority of 2,24,098 votes against former Union minister Kishore Chandra Deo which was the fourth largest margin in the state.
6. Mimi Chakrobarty
30 year old, Mimi Chakraborty is a Bengali actress and MP from Jadhavpur Constituency in West Bengal. She is known for her notable work in Bengali cinema and television. In 2019, she joined politics as a member of Trinamool Congress. She completed her graduation in English in 2010 from Asutosh College.
7. Nusrat Jahan
29 year old, Nusrat Jahan from Basirhat Constituency in West Bengal emerged as the winner by a margin of 350,000 votes against BJP candidate Sayantan Basu in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. She has worked in Bengali cinema and joined active politics in 2019 contesting from Basirhat as a Trinamool Congress candidate.
8. Raksha Khadse
32 year old, Raksha Khadse is an MP from the Raver constituency of Maharashtra. She was a member of the 16th Lok Sabha as well as the youngest MP at the age of 26. She was also Sarpanch at the age of 22 and was elected to Jalgaon Zila Parishad at 24. She has been involved in politics since 2010.
The list is not exhaustive, there are 78 elected women MPs in the current Lok Sabha. With only 14%, the 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number of women MPs since Independence. This shows how crucial it is for us to ensure gender equality and diversity within the law making institutions of this country to ensure inclusive democratic institutions.
Also read: Why The Women’s Reservation Bill Is The Need Of The Hour
This is in no way a comprehensive list of all the Indian women MPs. Suggestions to add to the list are welcome in the comments section.
