Karnataka: Women outnumber men on poll rolls in 7 constituencies

BENGALURU: Karnataka may have a sex ratio skewed in favour of males, but women outnumber men on the poll rolls in seven of the state’s 28 parliamentary constituencies.


The trend is pronounced in North Karnataka, with more female than male voters in Raichur, Koppal and Ballari. The scales are also tilted in toward women voters in Shivamogga, in southwest Karnataka, in coastal Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and Dakshina Kannada and the southern constituency of Mysuru.

Of the seven constituencies, the highest number of female voters are in Raichur with 9,53,457 voters and 9,39,572 male voters. These numbers are as per the draft electoral list released on January 16, 2019. The data may vary once the final list gets published ahead of the

Lok Sabha

election.

The highest difference in the number of male and female voters in seen in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat where there are 7,64,105 women voters to 7,30,289 men (a difference of 33,816).

According to Prof TR Chandrashekar, former head of the Department of Developmental Studies,

Kannada University

,

Hampi

, the sex ratio being high in districts like Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, even Mysuru and Shivamogga is not surprising, but the trend in districts like Ballari, Raichur needs to studied further. He reasons that the high number of female voters in North Karnataka could be a reflection of the high sex ratio in the 0-6 age group that was seen between 1999-2001. “But the numbers in Ballari is a mystery. The sex ratio among the elderly population seems to be increasing, when compared to the sex ratio at birth,” he says.

When asked if the reverse trend would affect the outcome of the election in the region, Chandrashekar says: “Most of the women in North Karnataka have imbibed patriarchal and feudal values, hence these numbers may not have any impact on the election results. Moreover, the number of women plunging into politics is not increasing. It would take at least another 50 years before we see women actively get involved in politics in North Karnataka.”

Sharada Gopal, activist and member, Jagrutha Mahila Okkoota, Hubballi-Dharwad, is also surprised by the increase in the number of women voters. “It’s a significant data that we were not aware of,” she says.