Uttar Pradesh : Female votes crucial in the coming assembly elections

While India became independent 70 years ago, the biggest symbol of democracy - free and fair elections, have seen very little participation of the female half of the Indian populace. New political stories are written in every election, but the women of India have not shown a strong desire to become a part of this story.

However, as young India is taking over the reins, this mentality of the womenfolk is also starting to change and they are expressing their opinion on the country's governance and even stepping into the political arena.

In the 2012 UP assembly elections, the percentage of women exercising their voting rights was 23 per cent and in 2017, the percentage is all set to increase, judging by the fervour among the females of the state to become a part of the state's decision-making process. It is clear that female votes will play a very important role in deciding every candidate's fate in the coming elections.

CHANGE DUE TO AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS

This change has come partly because of the awareness campaigns run through the urban and rural areas about the purpose and need of voting. Women were made aware of the fact that only through the exercise of this important right, could they demand their personal liberties and rights.

Taking a look at the 2007 assembly polls in UP, 35 per cent women voters exercised their right on the 9 assembly seats of Agra. Out of these, the lowest voting percentage of 25.26 per cent was seen on the Agra (South) seat while Fatehabad saw the highest percentage at 48.34 per cent.

The picture did not change even in the 2012 assembly elections and on every polling booth women could be seen queued up to cast their vote, irrespective of their faith or age. In those elections, Agra saw 58.41 percent women voting for their candidate. Again, Agra (South) ranked the lowest at 55.28 percent while Fatehabad ranked highest at 67.19 percent.

Senior citizen Rama Shanker Sharma told India Today that outlook of women has changed drastically in today's India and now they are more aware of their rights and are demanding equality with men. Several female candidates from simple family backgrounds can be seen contesting elections now, while earlier politics was limited mainly to the women from the upper strata of the society.

He said that it was expected that during these elections, a number of women candidates will contest the elections from Agra and they were even canvassing, but suddenly the political parties decided to drop them and chose others to represent them which was quite disheartening both for the women who were in the political arena and the female voters.

BETI BACHAO, BETI PADHAO

He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was publicizing the 'Beti Bachao - Beti Padhao' campaign so that women could become educated and masters of their own destiny, but until political parties started giving them adequate representation according to their numbers, women will not be able to get the rights they are fighting for.

A senior administrative official told India Today that at present there are 187181 registered female voters on Etmadpur seat, 192188 on Agra (Cantonment), 157479 on Agra (South), 178846 on Agra (North), 175839 on Agra (Rural), 153947 on Fatehpur Sikri, 140644 on Kheragarh, 134088 on Fatehabad and 143428 female voters on Bah seat, which was a significant number and had all the potential to turn the tide of any election.

Also read:

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