Kamal Ghorui
To woo women voters in Assam, BJP and Congress have pitched competing cash-transfers. In Assam, the BJP sankalp patra promised that the monthly direct bank transfer under Orunodoi scheme would be increased to Rs 3,000 for women and that it aims for 40 lakh “lakhpati baideos , a flagship initiative to economically empower women. Congress, in its manifesto for Assam, has promised an unconditional bank transfer of a stipulated amount to every woman’s account and Rs 50,000 for women entrepreneurs. At the national level, Narendra Modi govt has already moved to implement women’s quota in legislatures from the 2029 general elections. While the overall voter turnout touched an all-time high in Assam and Puducherry (85.9% and 89.9%, respectively), male voter turnout was also the highest ever in these two states. However, the 75.2% male voter turnout in Kerala was much lower than the all-time high of 80.5% recorded in 1987 assembly polls in the state. The massive participation by women electors in these states/UT is not a new phenomenon. In Puducherry, women turnouts have been higher than male turnouts in 18 of the total 30 Lok Sabha and assembly elections held since 1964. In Kerala, women’s participation has been higher in nine of the 34 parliamentary/assembly elections held in the state since 1957. Female turnout had surpassed male turnout in Assam first during the 2016 assembly polls. Since then, women voters have shown better participation than their male counterparts, barring 2019 Lok Sabha polls when female and male turnouts were exactly the same. This translates into four of 33 Lok Sabha/assembly elections in the northeastern state having seen higher female polling percentage.
