Women outnumber men in large parts of Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, Mizoram; MP in close race
In the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, the voter turnout was 76.47 percent, while in the second phase, the voter turnout was 75.88 percent.
New Delhi: In the Chhattisgarh Assembly Election 2023, women outnumbered men in exercising their franchise in the two-phase polls. According to figures released by Chhattisgarh’s Chief Electoral Officers (CEO) on Sunday, 1.55 crore people cast their votes in all 90 assemblies. Among them, 77.48 lakh were men and 78.12 lakh women. There are 1.97 crore voters in the state, comprising 98.2 lakh men and 98.5 lakh women.
In the first phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly elections, the voter turnout was 76.47 percent, while in the second phase, the voter turnout was 75.88 percent.
In 50 parliaments, women outnumbered men in terms of electoral turnout. These include Bastar, Jagdalpur, Chitrakot, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta. Of the 20 seats that went to polls in the first phase, 16 Assembly constituencies had more women than men.
The huge turnover could also be linked to the schemes announced by various political parties that directly target women in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced an annual subsidy of Rs 12,000 to married women, subsidized LPG cylinders of Rs 500 for economically disadvantaged families, and a down payment of Rs 1,50,000 on the birth of a girl child in the BJP affiliated households. The Congress announced subsidized LPG cylinders of Rs 500 for every section of society. The party also announced an annual grant of Rs 15,000 for women.
Apart from phase two in Chhattisgarh, all 230 assemblies in Madhya Pradesh also went to the polls on Friday. The state recorded a voter turnout of 77.15% – 1.52% higher than 2018. There were more men than women in the state. Voter turnout for men was 78.21%, compared to 76.03% for women, according to figures from the state CEO. Of the 5.52 crore registered voters in the state, 2.85 crore are men and 2.67 crore are women.
Mizoram Assembly elections were held on November 7. There were also more female voters than men there. The state recorded a voter turnout of 80.66%. While the turnout of women voters was 81.25%, that of men was 80.04%, according to figures from the state CEO. Mizoram has 8.38 lakh voters, including 4.32 lakh women.
On December 3, the votes from these two states and the other two that did not hold elections will be added together. Telangana will hold elections on November 30 and Rajasthan on November 25.