Women pip men in voter turnout for Himachal polls, BJP claims gain

Shimla: The turnout of women voters surpassed their male counterparts in the Himachal assembly elections, a fact that is expected to have a crucial bearing on the final outcome of the polls.

In 18 assembly constituencies, of the total 68, women votes  were 8 to 15 percent higher than men, an analysis of official figures shows.

The total percentage of male population who exercised their franchise was 72.4 while that of females was 76.8 per cent.

“The overall turnout of women voters was roughly 4.5 per cent higher than that of male voters and approximately two per cent higher than the total voter turnout,” says Neeraj Sharma ,OSD at State Chief Electoral Office.

A close analysis revealed the difference between the male and female voters in constituencies like Jogindernagar, Jawalamukhi, Jaisinghpur  and Baijnath  was between 11 to 15 percent, which is going to have a significant impact on the overall winning probabilities of the candidates.

The highest was in Jogindernagar constituency of Mandi—Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s home district, where 8000 more women voters exercised their franchise as compared to male voters.The BJP had fielded Prakash Rana, a sitting MLA.

Jawalamukhi, where the BJP has fielded Ravinder Ravi, a former minister registered 12.52 percent higher votes than men.

Other constituencies having higher women voter turnout are Shahpur constituency of women and Child development minister Sraveen Chaudhry,a four time winner, Palampur –a Congress stronghold of sitting MLA Ashish Butail, Fatehpur, Dehra and Nagotra Bhagwan—all in Kangra district.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur attributes the higher turnout of  women to several welfare initiatives of the government like 50 percent travel concessions to women in HRTC,  Ghahini Suvidha Yojana to give free LPG cylinders to 3.33 lakh households beside 1.38 lakh under Ujala Yojana, zero electricity bill for 14 lakh families, Rs 31,000 grant each under Shagun Yojana for BPL girls at time of their marriage –now being raised to Rs 51,000  and social security pensions to 6.8 lakh beneficiaries.

In its manifesto the BJP has released a separate 13-point resolution for women including bicycles for the girls in schools and scooties for the college going girls and 33 reservations for women in jobs.

Thakur also believes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to women voters and central government schemes will also be factors favouring the BJP though he also admits rebels damaging party prospects in limited– three to four seats.

The Congress, on the other hand, claims to have won more women votes because of inflation and the party promised to give Rs 1500 per month to women in the age group of 18 to 60 years.

Though Himachal Pradesh registered a record voter turnout, urban voter apathy was once again clearly demonstrated.

The voter turnout in Shimla was not only the lowest at 62.53 per cent in the state but also down by 1.4 per cent as compared to the 2017 elections

Himachal Pradesh started its electoral journey with assembly elections in 1951, when a voter turnout of 25.16 per cent was recorded. The voter turnout has shown a steady upward trend in the subsequent elections.

In Uttrakhand ,where the elections were held in February 2022, the women voters had participated enthusiastically, outnumbering men voters by 4.60 per cent.

A total of 65.37 percent polling was recorded in the state, in which women have voted 67.20 percent, while men have voted 62.60 percent.