Parties shift focus as past polls saw surge in female voters

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New Delhi: Active participation of the women in previous elections has paved way for their increased representation in the forthcoming elections as all three major political parties in the state expressed their willingness to give priority to women candidates.
Looking at the voting percentage of 2014 and 2009 elections, there was an increase in participation of women voters by 10 per cent.
In 2009, the overall voting percentage in the state was 65.30 per cent – 66.10 per cent male and 64.43 per cent female. However, in 2014, there was a sea change in the scenario when the women of the state took part in the elections overwhelmingly.
In 2014, the total voting percentage was 73.78 where participation of women voters stood at 74.62 per cent against 72.53 per cent male voters. There were 1.51 crore male voters while 1.39 crore female in the state in 2014.
The women voters had not only left behind their male counterparts but also had gone a notch above the state average.
In 2014 elections, the BJD had given tickets to two women for Lok Sabha and both of them had won the polls. Later, Pratyusha Rajeshwari Singh had won the by-elections from Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat after the demise of her husband Hemendra Chandra Singh in Septemeber 2014.
In Assembly elections, the BJD had given tickets to 13 women of whom 10 had emerged victorious. In the current scenario, the number of female voters have reached a staggering 1.54 crore while the number of male voters stands at 1.63 crore. With the increase in numbers, the possibility of women becoming a deciding factor cannot be ruled out.
Significantly, the amplified participation of women in the last election has knocked the minds of strategists of all the major parties in the state to increase the number of women candidates in coming elections.
Recently, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had announced that they would reserve 33 per cent seats in Parliamentary elections for women candidates. It implies that BJD will field women candidates for at least seven Lok Sabha seats.
Similarly, both national political parties have also signaled fielding of more women candidates in upcoming elections.
The Congress had made it clear that they would give more priority to women candidates while distributing the tickets for Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the state.
Notably, at present, there are three women Lok Sabha MPs from Odisha. The BJD had won 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. In Odisha’s 147-member Assembly, there are 12 women MLAs at present.