Saturday, 19 February 2022 | PNS | Dehradun
The higher turnout of the women voters in comparison to the males in the just concluded polling for the assembly elections is being termed as a good sign for it by the Uttarakhand Congress. The party leaders are confident that affected by the rising prices and attracted by the cooking gas cylinder at Rs 500 promise the women voters turned out in large numbers to vote for the candidates of the Congress party in all assembly constituencies. Some party leaders also point out that the Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi who is leading the battle charge of the party in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh also had an effect on the women voters of Uttarakhand.
In the elections 67.20 per cent women came out to vote in Uttarakhand which is higher than the total average voter turnout of 65.37 per cent in the state. In comparison only 62.60 per cent males exercised their franchise in the election. In fact the data of the Election Commission of India (ECI) suggests that women voters outsmarted their male counterparts in all the districts of the state barring Haridwar. In the mountainous districts such Almora, Champawat and Rudraprayag 12 to 14 per cent more women turned out to vote as compared to the males.
The Congress party which had focussed its election campaign around price rise and unemployment and had come out with ‘Char Dham Char Kam’ slogan in which the party promised to provide cooking gas cylinders at Rs 500 and said that it would create four lakh new employment opportunities for the youth. In its manifesto also the Congress party promised to reserve 40 per cent of seats for women and offered free transport for women in the roadways buses if its government is formed in the state. The Congress leaders are now claiming that these issues established a connection with the women of the state due to which they came out in large numbers to vote for the candidates of the Congress party.
The media in charge of the Uttarakhand Congress, Rajeev Mehrishi told The Pioneer that the people of the state are reeling under the unprecedented price rise and expressed their anger towards the BJP government in the polls. He said that the kitchen gets directly affected by the increasing prices so women came out to vote the BJP out of power in the state. Mehrishi added that the cooking gas at Rs 500 per cylinder promise made by the Congress party found a positive response among the women of the state. He said that the Congress party would implement the cooking gas cylinder at Rs 500 promise immediately after assuming power in the state. Mehrishi claimed that the Congress party has done due diligence on all the announcements and would fulfil them. He said that the cooking subsidy is not more than one per cent of the total plan outlay for the state which is nothing when compared with the hardship faced by the poor in refilling their gas cylinder.
