Three women from Chhattisgarh emerged victorious in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, echoing the gender representation observed in the previous polls.

The ruling BJP won 10 out of 11 parliamentary seats, while the Congress clinched only one seat, marking a slight decline from its 2019 performance when it had won two constituencies.

Among the 11 newly-elected MPs, three are women, with two from the BJP and one from the Congress. A total of 29 women candidates, including three from each of the BJP and the Congress, had contested the elections.

Rupkumari Chaudhary, a former MLA, emerged victorious in Mahasamund, securing 7,03,659 votes against the Congress’s Tamradhwaj Sahu who polled 5,58,203 votes. In Janjgir-Champa (SC) seat, the BJP’s Kamlesh Jangde, a fresher, defeated Congress’s Shivkumar Dahariya, an influential scheduled caste community leader and former state minister, garnering 6,78,199 votes.

The Congress candidate Jyotsana Mahant, wife of Opposition leader Charan Das Mahant, retained her seat in Korba by defeating the BJP’s Saroj Pandey, a former MP, by a margin of 43,283 votes. Jyotsana bagged 5,70,182 votes while Pandey polled 5,26,899 votes.

Saroj Pandey of the BJP and Shashi Singh and Menka Devi Singh of the Congress faced defeat in their respective constituencies in Korba, Surguja (ST) and Raigarh.

Shashi Singh put up a good show securing 6,48,378 votes but conceded defeat at the hands of the BJP’s Chintamani Maharaj who polled 7,13,200 votes.

In the Raigarh seat, Menka Devi Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Sarangarh, lost against the BJP’s Radheshyam Rathiya by a margin of 2,40,391 votes.

Notable victories in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections include Renuka Singh and Gomtee Sai of the BJP and Jyotsana Mahant of the Congress.

In 2014, Kamla Devi Patle (Janjgir-Champa SC seat) of the BJP was the only woman candidate who won the general election.

In 2009, two women candidates — Kamla Devi Patle (Janjgir-Champa) and Saroj Pandey (Durg) of the BJP — emerged victorious.

In the 2004 general elections, Karuna Shukla of the BJP was the only woman who had won.

In the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections held last year, 19 women, including 11 from the Congress and 8 from the BJP, were elected in the 90-member House.