BENGALURU: Women voters will play a crucial role in deciding the fate of the candidates in two of the three Assembly constituencies in the state, where byelections will be held on Wednesday. For, their numbers are much higher than male voters. Polling will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.
According to data from the State Election Commission’s office, Channapatna constituency has 1.20 lakh women voters as against 1.12 lakh men. Sandur has 1,18,437 women as against 1,17,939 men. However, Shiggaon has more male voters.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, Union Minister and former CM HD Kumaraswamy contested against CP Yogeshwara (then BJP candidate) and won by a margin of 15,000 votes in Channapatna constituency. With 8,000 more women voters than men, Congress is hoping that they will back the party based on its guarantee schemes.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who is in-charge of Ramanagara district, expressed confidence that the Congress government’s Gruhalakshmi, Shakti, Annabhagya and Gruha Jyothi schemes have helped women manage their finances well.
Guarantees will not save Congress: BJP
“Women voters accepted our schemes and are in our favour,’’ Ramalinga Reddy said. According to Reddy, the women-centric schemes will help Congress win all three constituencies in the byelections. Meanwhile, BJP leaders claimed that the guarantee schemes will not help the ruling Congress in the byelections.
“At many places, women are not getting Gruhalakshmi money, and men are unhappy that they have been left out of most of the guarantee schemes,’’ N Ravikumar, senior BJP leader and MLC, said. He said though the Congress government claims that its guarantee schemes are helping the poor and middle-class families, the cost of living has increased drastically. “Women are clever.
They are not happy with price rise and other issues,’’ he added. He said the BJP-JDS alliance will sweep the byelections in the state. Political analysts, however, stated that Wednesday’s byelections have become a prestige issue for the three parties in Karnataka. The bypoll outcome may also lead to a major change in political equations in the state.
