Female voters set records but only six women are elected

Bangalore, May 9: Karnataka Assembly elections witnessed increase in percentage of voting even though the summer heat was harsh. An interesting aspect of the increase is the bigger numbers seen in women voters in many of the districts. Sadly, only six women have been elected as legislators in 2013 elections.

Even though male voters have dominated the polling booths, the female voters came in good numbers in places where there was a huge increase in numbers from 2008 to 2013.

For example, in Raichur district, the female voters increased by nearly 12 percent, from 50.9 percent in 2008 to 62.95 in 2013. For the sidelights, we need to mention that film actress Pooja Gandhi contested from Raichur city.
But she got only 1790 votes and with postal ballot it came to 1815 for her under BSR Congress party.

The heat did not deter women in Yadgir district, one of the most backward district in the state. The female voters percentage went up from 55.7 in 2008 to 64.07 percent in 2013.

In Kolar, the female voters poured into polling booths to take the overall percentage past 80. Total voting was 81.47 percent and of this the female voters were 80.37 percent. This is an increase of over 11 percent in women voters from 2008. In 2008, the women voter turnout was 69.2 percent and same went up to 80.37 percent in 2013.

The female voters were ahead of male voters in Bangalore urban areas. The women voter in Bangalore registered 57.58 percentage in 2013 and it was 48.8 percent in 2008. The male voting in Bangalore urban was 57.21 percent in 2013 and it was just six percent more than 2008, which was logged at 51 percent. So, the Bangalore women did almost nine percent more voting than men.

A nine percent jump in women voters was also witnessed in Gadag district. It was 62.8 percent in 2008 and in 2013 the female voter percentage was 71.17. In Gadag, the women struggle for water everyday and it was a hot Sunday polling.

Koppal also saw good response from women. There was 12 percent jump in female voters in Koppal district. In 2008 it was 59.7 percent and the women voters went to polling station in good numbers to register 72.22 percentage in 2013.

Female voting went up by 10 percent in Bidar district and five to six percent in Chikkballapur, Chitradurga and Chamarajnagar districts.

The increase was very little in coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada but the female voter percentage was impressive at 76.80 and 74.38, respectively.

On the political arena, six women candidates have been elected to become legislators. They are Shashikala Jolle (BJP) from Nippani, Y Ramakka (BJP) from KGF, actress Umashree (Cong) from Terdal, Sharada Shetty (Cong) from Kumta, Shakuntala Shetty (Cong) from Puttur and Sharada Purya Naik (JDS) from Shimoga Rural.