Parties still reluctant to nominate women

Of the total of 2393 candidates in fray in the first two phases of polling in 2004 general elections covering 279 seats, only 141 are women.

Among all parties, main opposition Congress headed by Sonia Gandhi has fielded highest number of women candidates'20 out of its 210 nominees in the first two phases of polling.

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Ruling BJP has given tickets to 13 women to fight the polls out of its 185 candidates for the first two laps of general elections.

The Bahujan Samaj Party headed by Mayawati has put up eight women out of a list of 203 candidates in the first two phases.

Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar has nominated three women candidates out of a total of 24 contestants.

The two communist parties CPI and CPI(M) has not fielded a single woman candidate in the first two phases of polling, according to an official release.