Woman power to the fore

ALLAHABAD: The women in Indian society might have been denied their due in political rings, but in Allahabad they would certainly play a significant role in the victory of candidates in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Surprisingly, according to the latest voters' list, the number of women voters is almost equal to their counterpart in Allahabad district.And according to a rough estimate, they may even outnumber men if only voters' identity card holders are allowed to cast their vote.
The names of women in the voters list had never been so high, sources claimed adding that their votes would play a very decisive role in the assembly elections. The total number of voters, in all 11 assembly constituencies in the district, is 33,33,297 whereas, the total number of female voters is 14,90,985, which is nearly 50%.
Of these, Meja seat (reserved), won by Ram Kripal of CPM in last elections, has 3,21,716 voters including 1,29,520 female electorates. Karchana Assembly seat won by Ujjwal Raman Singh of Samajwadi Party has 3,03,417 voters including 1,37,123 female voters.
BJP's stronghold Bara Assembly seat, sitting MLA - Udai Bhan Karvariya, has 2,92,122 voters with 1,33,259 women voters. Similarly, Jhunsi Assembly seat, captured by SP MLA Bijma Yadav in last elections, has 2,72,854 voters out of them 1,22,842 female voters. Handia Assembly seat of SP MLA Mahesh Narayan Singh has total 3,11,349 voters with 1,41,215 female voters.
Pratappur seat, the single seat captured by the Congress MLA Shyam Surat Upadhaya has 2,82,912 voters with 1,30,633 female voters. Soraon Assembly seat occupied by BSP MLA Mujtaba Siddiqui has 2,49,844 including 1,16,948 female electorates.
The Nawabganj seat held by SP MLA (earlier Apna Dal) Ansar Ahmad has 2,63,894 voters with 1,21,270 female votes. Women has greater participation in the three city assembly seats, including city north, city south and city west. City north seat currently held by BJP MLA NKS Gaur has 3,73,543 voters of these 1,52,145 are female.
The city south seat being occupied by BJP MLA and former speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi has 2,79,098 with 1,23,623 female voters and the city west occupied by SP MLA Khalid Azim alias Ashraf has 3,82,548 with 1,62,398 female voters.
However, the total number of identity cards made so far is 21,70,510. More than 50% of the card holders are women, sources informed adding that all candidates have been roping in their women army in order mobilise the women votes.