India

As many as eight women candidates out of 79 have emerged as winners in the Delhi assembly Election 2020. All of them belong to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The results were announced on Tuesday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded nine women candidates in the Delhi Assembly election 2020 and of them, eight have emerged as winners.

More than 130 centenarian voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the February 8 election and they will be treated “as a VIP” on the polling day, officials said on Thursday. Earlier, the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) office had identified 150 centenarian voters but the number was revised after physical verification.

While political parties are sweating it out to woo the electorate ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, women voters in the national capital feel manifestos should offer more to them than limiting their demands to safety issues.

Nearly 100 Indian women politicians faced abuse, including rape and death threats, on social media during elections last year, with researchers on Thursday raising concerns over rising online violence against women globally.

A study by Amnesty International India said 95 female politicians received nearly 1 million hateful mentions on Twitter between March and May, one in five of which was sexist or misogynistic. In all, there were 724 women candidates.

Female voters may be coming out in never-seen-before numbers in India, but politics is still not a burning passion for most.

Several women leaders in Maharashtra are contesting the Vidhan Sabha polls but in terms of numbers the representation has reduced. This time 235 women are contesting of which only 39 are from the four mainstream political parties - the BJP,  Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP. The BJP has fielded the maximum women candidates 17, followed by the Shiv Sena and the Congress, which have fielded eight each, and the NCP six.