Woman play dominant role in polls

Chennai, Apr 9: Women voters in Tamil Nadu hold the key to the electoral fortunes of a majority of candidates, including Chief Minister and AIADMK Supremo J Jayalalithaa, in the ensuing Assembly polls, as they outnumber men in 185 out of the 234 constituencies in the state.

The fate of 14 Ministers in the Jayalalithaa Cabinet will also be decided by woman power in the May 8 elections.

As per revised electoral rolls published by the Election Commission, there are 2.34 crore women voters in the state, constituting more than 50 per cent of the total electorate. The total number of voters, is 4.63 crore.

The women voters dominance is absolute in the districts of Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Theni, Perambalur, Tiruchirapalli, Sivaganga, Dharmapuri, Ramanathapuram, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli.

In Andipatti, from where Ms Jayalalithaa is seeking people's mandate for the second consecutive time, as many as 93,113 women have the right to exercise their franchise as against 89,277 men.

Political observers feel the gender factor will work out in favour of the AIADMK Supremo as women in this predominantly agrarian constituency have been steadfast supporters of the party right from the days of Party Founder and Ms Jayalalithaa's Mentor MGR.

In fact, MGR's charisma and his 'two leaves' symbol still weave magic on this rural population, particularly women, to the extent that he is still being worshipped as god in many households.

As the AIADMK's traditional vote base comprises mostly women, the party's chances in the election are further bolstered by women's dominance on the electoral rolls, a senior AIADMK leader said.

UNI