With 49% share in electoral roll, women voters to play a crucial role

Kolkata: With 49 per cent share in the electoral roll of Bengal, women voters will also play a crucial role in the ensuing Assembly Polls in 2021.

The draft electoral roll released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday stated that the number of women voters in Bengal increased by 10.9 lakh compared to that of during 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

According to the draft electoral roll, there are 3.51 crore women voters in the state at present which is almost 49 percent of the total number of electors. The data of 2019 Lok Sabha polls shows that there were 3.40 crore women voters then.

When compared to that of the number of women voters in the 2016 Assembly polls, the data shows that there were 3.16 crore women voters. In the past five years, Bengal has witnessed an increase in women voters by around 35.06 lakh.

The percentage of women voters in Kerala is highest—that is 51.4 percent, followed by Tamil Nadu with 50.5 percent and Andhra Pradesh with 50.4 percent women voters.

Once the percentage of women voters in Bengal crosses the 50 percent mark, the state will become the fourth state after Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to have such a record.

The final publication of the electoral roll will take place on January 15.

The draft electoral shows that there are a total 78,903 booths and the number of male voters are 3.67 crore.

There will be special campaign drives at booth level from November 21 to December 13 for correction in voters' list before the final electoral roll is released.

Keeping the Covid situation in mind, the ECI has also introduced the online facility for submitting applications for inclusion of new voters and correction of electoral rolls.

There was also a significant increase in the number of women voters in the state in 2019 when compared to that of 2016.

Interestingly, Trinamool Congress had announced the list of candidates for 2019 Lok Sabha elections with nearly 41 percent women candidates.

The percentage of women candidates was increased from 35 to 41 per cent giving a significant stride towards women empowerment.