Roughly five lakh women in the district have abstained from voting in the just concluded assembly election. It is perhaps the highest number of women staying away from exercising their right to franchise in an assembly election in the district in the recent past.
Since they form a larger voting population than men in the district, women absentee voters have also outnumbered their male counterparts, who did not exercise their franchise this time.
While about 31% of the total male voters hadn’t turned out to vote, about 32.5% of the total women voters hadn’t exercised their franchise in the district.
An AIADMK functionary, who didn’t want to be named, said, “We are also wondering why so many women preferred not to vote. In fact, male voter turnout was also very low in certain constituencies. But female voter turnout was even more less.’’
At the state level, the turnout of women voters was interestingly much higher than that in Coimbatore. When the district recorded a female voter turnout of 67.5%, the state average was 72.5%. In some districts, the women voters had turned up in large numbers.
In Coimbatore, Sulur constituency recorded the highest number of women voters at 74.5%, while Coimbatore North segment had the lowest number of female voters at 58.6%. The number was more or less in tune with the turnout of male voters.
A cross section of women voters said they preferred not to vote primarily because of concerns about Covid-19. Some, however, said they were usually not in the habit of voting in any elections. “I had voted in the 2019 elections. But this time I could not make it because of rising Covid cases,” said Sripriya Parameswaran, a 67-year-old resident of Singanallur.
However, political parties are surprised at the poor turnout of women voters, despite several announcements to woo them. The AIADMK had promised Rs1,500 per month for every household, 50% discount in bus fare for women, free washing machines and six free LPG cylinders for a year. Its rival, the DMK, had promised Rs1,000 for every housewife holding a ration card, free travel in city buses and increase in maternity benefits.
“These promises may not show an immediate result, but in the long run would draw women to the polling booths. In fact, it was after self-help groups were formed, there was a surge in women voting,” said a former DMK MLA, requesting anonymity.