Delhi Election 2020: Fewer women turn up to elect the chief minister in the national capital

• According to the Election Commission of India, the overall voter turnout stood at 62.59%. While women made up for 62.55% of votes.
  
• Of a total of 14,692,136 voters in Delhi, over 660,000 are female.
  
• During the 2015 elections, a large number of women came out to vote, registering a 66.5% vote share — almost at par with men at 67.6%.

The assembly election in the national capital witnessed a low voter turnout this time. According to the Election Commission of India, the overall voter turnout stood at 62.59%. While women made up for 62.55% of votes.

However, Delhi recorded a marginally higher voting percentage as compared to the last Lok Sabha Elections, as per the Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh.

“The highest voter turnout was recorded in Ballimaran assembly constituency at 71.6% while the lowest voter turnout was recorded in Delhi Cantonment at 45.4 per cent,” Singh said.

There has been a significant rise in the number of women voters over the last few years. Of a total of 14,692,136 voters in Delhi, over 660,000 are female. “In 1962, women’s turnout was 15% lower than men’s turnout; but by 2014 women’s turnout had almost reached parity with men, short by only 1.5%,” according to book called ‘The Verdict’, authored by veteran Indian journalist Prannoy Roy and psephologist Dorab Sopariwala.

There were 64 centenarian women voters in Delhi. The oldest women voter in Delhi, Kalitara Mandal also turned up to vote and urged more people to exercise their franchise. “I am happy to vote in this election. I don't remember how many elections I have taken part in, but as a responsible citizen, we must vote. I urge other citizens to also come out and vote,” Mandal told PTI.

During the 2015 elections, a large number of women came out to vote, registering a 66.5% vote share — almost at par with men at 67.6%. In fact, women vote share surpassed men in nine constituencies.

Women contesting elections

This election, the count of women fielding elections has also increased compared to the previous years. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), as many as 79 women candidates are contesting elections — 13 more than last year. This accounts for 11.8% of the total candidates.

But a majority of them are independent. Whereas the key contesting parties — Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — have fielded 9, 10 and 6 women for the upcoming assembly elections.

See also:
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