New Delhi, May 19 2009: A record 59 women MPs have been elected to the new Lok Sabha - the highest since independence, and 17 of them are less than 40 years.

According to PRS Legislative Research, an organisation that aims to strengthen legislative debate, among the 59 women MPs in the 15th Lok Sabha, a majority - 23 - are from the Congress.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 13 women members.

Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of 13 women MPs to represent the most populous state.

It is followed by West Bengal with seven.

In the 15th Lok Sabha the number of MPs in the age group of 25-40 years has gone up drastically.

Fifteen percent of 543 MPs in the new lower house of the parliament are in this age group while in the 14th Lok Sabha the figure was only 6.3 percent, according to PRS Legislative Research.

In all, 556 women had contested the 2009 general elections, of which 59 were elected.

The lowest percentage of women representations was in the sixth Lok Sabha (1977-80) when there were only 3.8 percent women MPs.

The first Lok Sabha (1952-57) had 4.4 percent women MPs.

In the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), the figure was 9.2 percent, the research group said.

The research group said that women representatives in the age group of 40 to 60 has gone down.

Now, less than 57 percent of women fall in this category as compared to over 73 percent in 2004 .

But this time, women over 60 make a 13.80 percent, while it was a mere 9.8 percent in the 14th Lok Sabha.

According the PRS, the total percentage of MPs this time in the age group of 41-55 years has been the second lowest in the last 14 sessions with only 43 percent members belonging to the age group.

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