Women voters outnumber men in all 5 Assam LS seats where voting is underway

GUWAHATI: Women, who outnumber male voters in all the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to polls in the first phase, came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise on Friday.

Women were seen queuing up before polling stations from 5 am and most of them said they wanted to cast their vote early so that they could return home and continue with their daily chores.

The total number of women voters in the five constituencies is 43,64,859 compared to 42,82,887 men, while there are 123 from the third gender.

There are, however, only four women candidates in the fray, constituting 11.4 per cent of the total 35 contestants.

Three of the four candidates, including Congress' Roselina Tirkey and independent aspirant Diluwara Begum Chowdhury, the richest candidate in the first phase, are contesting from Kaziranga constituency, which has 10,25,210 women and 10,24,883 male voters.

Rinku Roy of Gana Sangram Parishad is contesting from Sonitpur which has 8,21,012 women and 8,12,755 men.

Jorhat constituency has 8,78,192 women and 8,48,923 men, Dibrugarh has 8,49,563 women voters and 8,09,990 males and Lakhimpur has 7,90,882 women voters and 7,86,335 males.

Women were seen dressed in their best with seniors in the traditional 'mekhla-chador' and young girls in various outfits waiting eagerly to vote.

Chanda Sonar, who had queued outside a polling booth in Tinsukia's Bengali Girls School, said she still does not have an Aadhaar card as her name has not been updated in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

''The names of all my family members are there in the NRC, but mine is missing. I haven't got the Aadhaar card and as such have been deprived of the benefits of many schemes that the central and state governments are giving to women'', she said.

Pallavi Gohain, a PR professional in New Delhi, said she has come home to Dibrugarh to cast her vote as ''it is my democratic right and I, hopefully, want to see a candidate of my choice in Parliament''.

Housewife Mira Gogoi, 45, of Sibsagar said she has received almost all the schemes from the government and ''I am grateful for it. I have come to vote according to my conscience''.

Puja Tirkey, a member of the tea community who is exercising her franchise at Sarupathar under Kaziranga constituency, said political parties ''woo us during elections with tall promises and forget it for the next five years. I appeal all parties to remember their promises and fulfil those''.

Pragya Borgohain, 20, a first-time voter and a student of Dibrugarh University, said she is excited to cast her vote and has a lot of hopes, particularly related to employment opportunities, and ''I just hope the winning candidate will rise up to our expectations''.