The verdict is out: of the 690 newly elected MLAs across five states, only 55 are women. That's three short of the tally from the last assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

It's not surprsing that female participation is scarce. Voters rarely have the option even to vote for a female candidate. Most women candidates lose so badly that they end up forfeiting their deposit. What happens if we exclude those seats from the electoral map? What would these states look like then? Islands — “Islands of women.”

This is Uttar Pradesh with all of its 403 constituencies.

If you only include constituencies where at least one woman contested in 2017, this is what UP would look like. That's just 260 constituencies out of 403. Aligarh Mathura Lucknow Kanpur Jhansi Allahabad Varanasi

If you include only those seats where female candidates secured a significant vote share (and didn't forfeit their deposits), swathes of land start to disappear. That's 89 constituencies out of the 403. Asmoli Mahmodabad Unnao Jhansi Allahabad Chakia