The voter data may be a good indicator: All the five poll-going states have shown a big improvement in their gender gap ratio between the 2017 assembly polls and the upcoming elections – ranging from 10 to 29 points – as per latest voter data assessments conducted by the Election Commission.
The biggest improvement, in fact, is in Uttar Pradesh.
The voter gender ratio there has moved up from 839 females per 1,000 males in 2017 to 868 in 2022.
The increase is as much as by 65 points in Bhadohi district and by 51 points in Kushinagar district. Kasganj, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Deoria and Azamgarh districts have all shown a rise of over 30 points in their gender ratio between January 2021 and January 2022, as per the summary revision of the electoral roll conducted in UP.
Sultanpur district leads with the highest gender ratio in UP at 926 women to 1,000 men followed by Jaunpur at 922, Lalitpur at 918, the Gandhi family stronghold Rae Bareli at 908, Ambedkar Nagar at 907, and Samajwadi Party stronghold Azamgarh at 906.
Amroha, Amethi and Mirzapur have gender ratio above 900 in the latest special summary revision of electoral rolls.
Other states also bear good news on the gender front.
Goa and Manipur, which already boast of a robust gender ratio, have shown a further increase. Goa has posted a 24 point increase since the last assembly elections at 1,032 female voters per 1,000 male voters while Manipur has registered a 19 point increase to 1,065.
Uttarakhand’s voter gender ratio has moved up from 910 in 2017 to 928 ahead of 2022 elections, up by 18 points. Punjab has moved up by 10 points from 892 to 902 during the same period.
The improving gender ratio is also reflected among first time voters in the 18-19 age group.
A total of about 1,135,000 lakh women have registered as first time voters in the five poll-going states of UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
UP and Punjab have added 920,000 and 108,000 lakh first time women voters while Uttarakhand has added near 70,000.
As her numbers grow in the electoral matrix, the woman voter is bound to impact electoral and political strategies as well as the results.
No political party would want to miss out on this growing new constituency and vote bank.
So, the ruling BJP emphasises on its “women friendly” schemes from the Jal Jeevan mission to Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana LPG connection scheme to in all its election campaigns.
The Congress has promised up to 40% seats to women in UP and has launched the slogan “Ladki hun, lad sakti hun”.
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