Phase-5 of Lok Sabha polls has highest proportion of women in fray so far

12% candidates are women, 5% more than first phase; dip in proportion of candidates with criminal cases and those with assets beyond Rs one crore

About 12 per cent of the candidates contesting in the fifth phase of elections are women, the highest so far, and five percentage points higher than the seven per cent representation seen in the first phase.

At the same time, there has been a fall in the proportion of candidates with criminal cases over the previous phase. There are also fewer candidates with assets of Rs one crore or more. But at 19 per cent, candidates with criminal cases are still higher than women candidates. Those with assets of Rs one crore or more account for 28 per cent. The data