- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
The total number of voters in the 20 constituencies that went to polling on Tuesday are 40,78,681, out of which 20,84,675 are women, 69 third-gender persons and the remaining 19,93,937 men.
By: Shubham Ghosh
WOMEN voters outnumber men in 16 out of the 20 assembly constituencies in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh where polling was being held in the first phase on Tuesday (7), as per officials.
The total number of voters in the 20 constituencies are 40,78,681, out of which 20,84,675 are women, 69 third-gender persons and the remaining 19,93,937 men, they said.
“In 16 seats, namely Mohla-Manpur, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Konta, Rajnandgaon, Khujji, Pandariya, Kawardha, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot, there are more women voters than men,” a poll official said.
“In Kawardha, of the 3,31,615 voters, 1,66,843 are women. The number of male voters is 1,64,770, while there are two transgender persons. In the remaining four seats, Antagarh, Dongargarh, Khairagarh and Dongargaon, there are more men voters than women,” he said.
Out of the 5,304 polling booths set up for the first phase elections, 200 are ‘sangwari’ polling stations managed by women staffers, while 20 each are managed by ‘divyanjan’ (persons with disabilities) and youth, the official said.
“Of the 69 transgender voters in the first phase, Jagdalpur seat has the maximum 29, followed by eight each in Antagarh and Bijapur, four each in Dongargarh and Narayanpur, three in Keshkal, two each in Kawardha, Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Kondagaon and Bastar and one each in Chitrakot, Dantewada and Konta,” he said.
The eight transgender voters in Antagarh assembly segment of Kanker district will be able to cast their votes at a specially designed ‘rainbow’ model polling station, the official said.
“All eight transgender electors in Antagarh seat live in Pakhanjur area. That is why the ‘rainbow’ model polling station has been set up at Pakhanjur-3 not only to address the social apprehensions and stigma regarding the third gender but also to make them feel they are an important part of the democracy,” Kanker collector Priyanka Shukla told the Press Trust of India.
The initiative is possibly the first of its kind in the country, Shukla claimed, adding that four transgender police personnel will also be deployed for security at this booth.
“This booth has 887 voters, comprising 421 men, 458 women and eight transgender persons,” she said.
The polling station has been painted in seven colours of rainbow with tent works of same colourful designs, making it visibly attractive.
Voting in the remaining 70 seats in Chhattisgarh will be held on November 17 in the second and last phase of polling for the 90-member state assembly.
Besides Chhattisgarh, four more Indian states are going to elections that kicked off on Tuesday and the results will be announced on December 3. These elections are being seen as the ‘semi-final’ ahead of next year’s general elections — the ‘final’.
(With PTI inputs)
