Why Women Will Be The Deciding Factor In Elections 2019?

That the participation of women in Indian politics is less than men is a sad fact about the world's largest democracy but will they be a deciding factor for Elections 2019? Absolutely yes! The increase in the year-by-year number of women voters is proof of how important their role is going to be in the General Elections in 2019. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the percentage of women voters went up, which was an indicator of the decreasing gap in the number of female and male voters. Apart from this, the dynamics of Indian politics have seen a paradigm shift in various ways which is hinting at the big role women voters will play this time. Let’s have a look.

2014 Lok Sabha Elections: Historical Participation Of Women Voters

Image Courtesy: Election Commission of India

If we have a look at the statistics from the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the number of male voters was 67.09% and this was just 1.79% more than the women voters. During this time, the percentage of female voters was 65.30%. Notably, in the general election held since 1967 till now, the lowest difference between male and female voters was observed in 2014. Now that there are few days left in Lok Sabha elections, it will be very interesting to know how the impact of female voters in Indian politics is increasing.

In 2004, the difference between the percentage of female and male voters was 8.36%. In 2009, the gap came down to 4.42%. At the same time, the difference was reduced to the lowest in 2014. According to this trend, the number of female voters in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 can be higher than that of men. If compared to the general elections of 1967, the number of female voters in that time was 11.25% less than that of men and this was the biggest difference between male and female voters in the Lok Sabha elections.

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The Verdict Is Out

A recently released book called The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections has a number of statistics, which show an increasing number of women voters year after year. Written by senior journalist Prannoy Roy and Dorab R. Sopariwala, the book also talks about the reliability of exit polls, fiddling of EVMs and questions whether the Indian elections can be called a ‘jugaad system’.

The Verdict: Decoding India's Elections is available for Rs 599. Buy it here for Rs 360.

Also, it is interesting to note that several Regional Parties have listed women candidates for the Lok Sabha elections this time, keeping women voters in mind.

Another interesting book about elections is How to Win an Indian Election: What Political Parties Don't Want You to Know, which talks about the role of political consultants. Priced at Rs 250, you can buy it here for Rs 221.

With the increase in the number of female voters every year, it is clear that the impact of women in the future will be even more important in the country's politics. In such a situation, issues such as women protection, policy related to women development, women employment and strict action taken in cases of crime against women will also be important in Indian politics. At this stage, women should be aware of their important role in the politics of their country and therefore they should see their right to vote as a big responsibility for bringing change. Not only this, the development of their neighbourhood is equally in the hands of the women voters so they should be very active about knowing the candidates, including what they have promised, about their past performance or any developmental work undertaken by them or whether they have a criminal background before they decide to elect them as their representative.

Read about women leaders in politics and the role of inspirational women in the fight for India’s independence – only on Her Zindagi.

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