A major shift in India’s electoral landscape is anticipated by the end of this decade. A report by the SBI has claimed that women voters in India will surpass male voters from 2029 onwards.
In the upcoming general election in 2024, the SBI report has projected a total voter turnout of around 68 crore, of which women voters could be at 33 crore (49%). From 2029 onwards, the women voters at 37 crore could be outstripping registered men voters at 36 crore, the SBI report said.
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It further projected that in 2047, women’s voter turnout might increase to 55% and men’s voter turnout might fall to 45%.
Rising participation of women in India’s political arena has been witnessed in the past one decade.
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In the 1951 elections, only eight crore voted. In the 2009 elections, this was 42 crores, of which 19 crores were women. In 2014, the voter turnout increased by 13.7 crore to 55 crore of which 26 crores were women. It was 5.8x higher for women and 5.2x for men.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, female voter turnout rate was higher than males. As many as 67.18% of women voters cast a vote in the 2019 general election in contrast to 67.01% of males.
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The rise in women’s voter turnout is even more pronounced in state assembly elections. Out of the 23 major states, where polls happened in the past five years, indicated that women’s voter turnout was higher than that of men in 18 states.
Interestingly, out of the 18 states, the same government was re-elected in 10 states where women voter turnout was more than men turnout.
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Currently, 15% of the total members of the 17th Lok Sabha are women. While in state legislative assemblies, women on average constitute 9% of the total members.
Scandinavian countries such as Sweden Norway, and South Africa have more than 45% women representation in their national legislatures. Japan at 10%, lags behind India.
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Published: 14 Dec 2023, 10:16 AM IST