RAIPUR: Ahead of the Assembly polls due later this year, the number of women voters, for the first time, have outnumbered the male electorate in the ongoing special summary revision of the voters’ list in Chhattisgarh, which is the tenth largest state in the country.
Officials in the chief electoral office in Raipur believe that if the trend persists, it is likely that Chhattisgarh will join those few states where more women are on the electoral rolls.
Chhattisgarh this year has registered an increase of 9.50 lakh voters, with female voters registering in large numbers. The state has 1.95 crore voters as per the updated list with 5.12 lakh as new voters between the ages of 18 and 19.
Ever since Chhattisgarh state was carved out of the undivided Madhya Pradesh in November 2000, the women voters’ strength has hovered around 49%. In the tribal belt of the Bastar zone, though, the women voters have always been over 51%.
Political observers in the state believe that the liquor ban promise by Congress ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections apparently won appreciation from women. The Congress secured a thumping majority with 68 seats in the 90-member Assembly.
The state also has a better gender ratio (females per 1,000 males) at 991 compared to national figures of 943, as per the last census. Most of the assembly constituencies in Chhattisgarh where women voters outnumbered men have been won by the Congress, the Election Commission data shows.