Hyderabad: Women in Telangana, especially in the rural areas, apparently take their responsibility of voting more seriously than men, if the numbers from the just-concluded Telangana state Assembly elections are any indication. In the urban areas, fewer women chose to exercise their franchise.
The state has 3,152 more women voters than men. But, when it came to voting on November 30, women outnumbered men by a whopping 88,994 at the polling booths.
In all, there are 1,62,98,482 male voters and 1,63,01,634 female voters in the state, of whom 1,15,84,728 men and 1,16,73,722 women voted.
In 58 of the 119 constituencies, more women voters who showed up than their male counterparts. The Congress's strategy of wooing women voters aggressively with various promises appeared to have worked to its advantage, with the party winning 36 of these 58 seats, along with its ally CPI at Kothagudem, while the BRS came second with 15, followed by the BJP with six wins.
In all, nine women won the elections. In three — Asifabad, Maheshwaram, and Secunderabad Cantonment — more men turned out to vote. The six constituencies that elected women candidates where female voters were more than male voters were Narsapur, Kodad, Pakakurthi, Warangal East, Mulug, and Sathupally.
In Maheshwaram, Asifabad, and Secunderabad Cantonment, where men cast more votes than women, it was the BRS women candidates who were elected. In Narsapur, Kodad, Palakurthi, Warangal East, Mulug and Sathupally, where women voted in larger numbers than men, it was the Congress candidates who won.
In Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts, 86,872 and 93,889 more men turned up to vote than women respectively. It was also in Hyderabad, in Charminar constituency, where the fewest women turned up to vote amongst all the constituencies in the state.
According to the Election Commission of India’s final voting figures, of the 1,07,815 women registered as voters in the Charimnar constituency, only 41 per cent — 44,646 — voted . Medchal recorded the highest number of women voting: Of the 1,95,172 ballots cast, the women’s vote stood at 63 per cent.
