According to the State Bank of India’s Economic Research Department (ERD), for every 100 additional male voters who cast their votes during the first four phases of the 2024 General Elections, there were 110 additional female voters who did the same. This solidifies the status of women voters as the new centre of gravity in Indian politics.
According to the research, 45.1 crore voters participated in the first phases of the Lok Sabha elections, whereas 42.6 crore voters participated in the general elections of 2019 in the same parliamentary constituencies. In almost 90 per cent of the seats surveyed, there has either been an increase or no shift in terms of total voter turnout as compared to 2019. 181 constituencies recorded a rise in voters by 50,000.
According to the data, the total number of voters who voted in the first four rounds of the Lok Sabha elections increased by around 6 per cent. The highest turnout was seen in Karnataka (35.5 lakh), followed by Telangana (31.9 lakh) and Maharashtra (20 lakh). However, Kerala has had a major dip (5.3 lakh fewer voters), with Manipur following closely behind with 3.4 lakh fewer voters.
The research further states that in three consecutive general elections, 2014, 2019, and 2024, the average incremental voter turnout was a staggering eight crore, four times higher than the average incremental voter turnout of two crore for the fifteen elections conducted prior to 2014.
Based on gender-specific data from 373 constituencies made available by the Election Commission, the study’s conclusions highlight the impact of three women-focused schemes or programmes—the PM Awas Yojana, Matru Vandana Yojana, and Ujjwala Yojana. These have had significant ground-level impact in rural areas, which may be the reason for the rise in women’s participation in the elections. Likewise, it was also found that the PMAY programme has an influence on female voter turnout with a correlation of 0.37 for states exhibiting an increase in female voter turnout.
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