The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which is contesting in 173 seats this election, has allotted just 16 seats to women among the unreserved constituencies. The AIADMK meanwhile has fielded 31 women candidates.
Almost all the women candidates from DMK are fresh faces expect Poongothai Aladi Aruna from Alangulam and Geetha Jeevan from Thoothukudi. The party has fielded a new face Simla Muthusolan from RK Nagar constituency against incumbent Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Simla Muthusolan is the daughter-in-law of former minister Sarguna Pandian, and is from the dominant Nadar community.
The DMK has done marginally better than it did in 2011, when it gave 11 seats to women out of a total of 124.
While the proportion of seats stands at 9.25 per cent this election, in 2011 it was only 8.87 per cent.
Though the party has allotted 16 seats to women, none of these are real strongholds of the party.
In 2011, the DMK did not win in any of these 16 seats. Since that election had seen a wave in favour of Jayalalithaa, the DMK had been badly thrashed in the elections, winning just 23 seats.
In 2006, the party had won 96 seats, but among the seats allotted to women this year, the party had managed to capture only five seats.
Here is a list of the women candidates from the DMK:
Dr Parimalam- Ponneri
SN Kanimozhi- T Nagar
Varalakshmi Madhusudhan- Chengalpettu
S Bhavani- Arrakonam
Simla Muthusolan- RK Nagar
V Amalu- Kzeehnakuppam
Kavita Dhandapani- Jolarpet
S Malathi Narayanaswami - Uthangarai
P Seethapati Chokkalingam- Tindivanam
R Maithili Rajendran- Vanur
J Rekha Priyadarshini- Kengavalli
R Sathya- Bhavanisagar
Meena Logu- Coimbatore North
Dr Anjugam Bhoopathi- Thanjavur
Geetha Jeevan- Thoothukudi
Poongothai Aladi Aruna- Alangulam
Candidates in reserved constituencies
Chitraselvi Maana Madurai
Dr Sripriya Thenmozhi, Sozhavandan
Anbumani Ganesan, Sankarankoil