Muslim women in Kanpur show zeal for poll

KANPUR: The fifth phase of assembly election in the city witnessed a huge participation of Muslim women voters.
One could also see many first time voters in the 'burqa-clad’ crowd.
Long queues of women voters were witnessed in the densely populated Muslim localities like Babupurwa, Ajeetganj, Begumganj, Bakarganj, Faithfulganj (under Cantonment assembly constituency), Chamanganj, Beconganj, Talak Mahal, Nai Sadak, Rizvi Road (under Sisamau constituency), Usmanpur Colony and adjoining areas (falling under Kidwai Nagar assembly constituency), Roshan Nagar, Rawatpur Goan (under Kalyanpur constituency) etc.
Among this lot, there were several college going Muslim girls who had come to cast their vote for the very first time. Most of these girls were clad in 'burqas'. Many showed their inked finger displaying that they had cast their votes.
Nafeesa Bano, a mother in Bakarganj locality, had come to vote with all her four children. One of them was voting for the first time. At St Xavier’s College in Ashok Nagar, the row of women voters stretched longer than the row of male voters. Rural women voters also reached the polling centres in huge numbers.
Meanwhile, serpentine queues were seen in front of many polling booths in the district on Thursday even though the day remained scorching at 31 degree Celsius. As poll fever gripped the city in the fifth phase of elections, people turned up in large numbers to cast their vote.
People seemed enthusiastic for voting since early morning. Morning walkers were among the earliest voters. Those who wanted to go for voting in the afternoon had to wait till the evening due to the heat. If the first half of the day mostly male voters dominated the booths and in the evening it was female voters who were witnessed casting votes with full zeal and pride. Many of them also brought their kids to witness the ‘festival of democracy’.
According to the data available from Kanpur South till 12 noon, around 60% male voters had cast their votes while 39% women had used their franchise. At booth number 60 at Dr Soney Lal Patel school in Juhi, some 313 voters had cast their votes by 11.30 am. Out of them, 188 were men and 125 women. Similarly at booth number 211, as many as 295 persons, 169 men and 126 women, had cast their votes.
At KK College in Kidwai Nagar, 307 out of 717 voters had exercised their franchise by 12.30 am. Out of them 117 were male voters. Several women such as Radha at Kaushalya Devi school booth, Anita at K K girls inter college ,Rashmi Gupta at Soney Lal Patel school booth clearly said that they had first fulfilled their responsibilities of their family thereafter then went ahead to cast their votes.
Lata a house wife said, she could not cast her vote in previous Parliament election as her name was not there in the list. Now she herself had filled the form and collected the voter ID card. Voting is my right and I am here to take part in democratic structure," she said.
Rashmi thanked election commission to issue voters slip to the voters. This had helped her and other women. "Almost every thing was systematic," she praised.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2012
Elections 2012 News