3 min readKolkataApr 16, 2026 03:19 AM IST
First published on: Apr 15, 2026 at 05:25 PM IST
Ahead of the three-day Special Session in Parliament on the Women’s Reservation Act, with Opposition parties already claiming the Centre is “pushing delimitation” under the guise of women’s reservation, an analysis of major parties’ candidates in the West Bengal Assembly elections shows that only the ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded more than 20% women candidates.
An analysis of candidates, ahead of polling on April 23 and 29, shows that women candidates account for just 11% of contestants in the fray this year. Among the parties, the TMC leads by far on this front, fielding 52 women who account for 27.2% of the total 291 candidates fielded.
Among the three other major parties, the CPI(M) and its Left allies are contesting 253 seats, including 34 seats or 13.43% where a woman has been fielded. The Congress, contesting all 294 seats in the state, has given tickets to 35 women or 11.9% of its total candidates. The BJP, also contesting 294 seats, has fielded the smallest proportion of women at 33 or 11.2%.
The TMC has consistently fielded more women than most other parties across the country. The outgoing Assembly has 41 women MLAs, accounting for 13.94% of the House strength, well above the national average across all state Assembly of 8%, but slightly below the 14.6% proportion of women in Parliament and significantly less than the 24% global average proportion of women in elected legislative bodies.
After passing the Women’s Reservation Act in 2023, the Centre has proposed a series of Constitutional amendments in the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha to 850 and delink the delimitation process to redraw Parliamentary constituencies from the decadal Census exercise. The amendments are linked to the broader plan to implement 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, whose implementation has been pushed back due to delays in the Census and delimitation processes.
The issue has already triggered sharp reactions across parties. With multiple parties raising concerns over timing, implementation and representation, the proposed reforms are set to spark intense debate in Parliament.
State president of TMC’s women’s wing, Chandrima Bhattacharya, said, “The BJP is trying to fool women before these Assembly elections. The women’s reservation Bill was already passed in Parliament, but not implemented. They are now showing the lollipop of delimitation. On the other hand, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee already implemented women’s reservation in the panchayats and other local bodies. She always promoted women and in the Lok Sabha and Assembly; the TMC has always had the highest representation of women.”
However, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya countered, “Earlier, many parties talked about women’s reservation but did not implement it. The BJP is the only party that implements what it proposes. The women’s reservation Bill has again proved that.”
