Fifty years ago, a party with winning ambitions in Bihar could safely ignore its women.
Not only are there far fewer women registered to vote than men, but there are also fewer women actually voting.
For example, in 1967, the female turnout for men was to 61, a difference far greater than the average victory in a constituency.
The story of the growing participation of Indian women in elections is one of the defining features of elections over the past 60 years, and political parties are beginning to notice the changing trend.
The turnout of male voters in the Lok Sabha election increased only slightly from 60.
The proportion of registered voters in 1971 was 67 in 87,2014.
Female voter turnout has more than doubled from 49 year on year.
11 points to 65 points. 54 per cent.
According to the election commission's analysis, female voters in 21 of India's 30 states exceeded male voters (EC)data shows.
In the remaining 9-
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kerala, Central and Maharashtra-
The gap between male and female players narrowed to the most serious extent.
Turnout among men and women in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra is the most different.
However, there is still a distance between gender equality among voters in India.
The increase in the number of women voters may indicate that women have a greater desire or ability to vote once registered, but women's representation in voters still lags significantly behind men.
And the trend continues,
In the first 2014 People's Court elections, women accounted for just 41 of all new voters in the decree-
19 age groups registered with ECI.
> In the most recent parliamentary elections, the number of registered voters for women is only equivalent to or higher than registered voters for men in seven states/coalition territories --
The states of Aruna Chale, Goa, Kerala, mannipur, mealaya, Mizoram and puduchry.
There is a large immigrant population in Delhi, and the most unfavorable gender ratio of voters in India is only 801 female registered voters per 1,000 male registered voters, and Hindu analysis of voter data in all states shows.
The northern states followed.
As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley suggested, while male immigrants go abroad to explain some of the reasons for the increase in the number of women, this is not a complete explanation.
For a state with high output
It is expected that male immigrants will have a higher degree of feminisation in the general adult population and voters, not just in the voting population, and EC and census data show that this is not always the case.
To some extent, the female voter deficit is explained, and the unfavorable gender ratio of the general adult population explains the female voter deficit.
Using census data for the population aged 18 and over, Hindus found that the sex ratio of adults in Delhi was the worst, followed by Jammu and Kashmir.
In most states, however, the gender ratio of voters is worse than that of the general population.
A clear example of the gradual loss of female voters in Gujarat is that the adult sex ratio of female voters in the state is 943 women per 1,000 adult males.
Its gender ratio is slightly less favorable.
Only 910 of every 1,000 male registered voters registered to vote.
And then its voter sex is worse.
In 867 parliamentary elections, only 2012 women per 1,000 male voters voted.
Why is this happening?
ECI commissioned a series of sample surveys across the country to better understand who was missing from its voter list and how to address the issue.
In Delhi, for example, the survey found that Muslims, new immigrants, women and young people were less likely to register and vote than others.
ECI's own analysis of its data also shows that voters in Delhi are older and more male than the general population.
In Gujarat, the European Initiative identified specific communities such as the Kathi Darbar community in the Amreli district, which do not believe that women should play a role in the democratic process and are targeted
Political parties targeting female voters will become increasingly politically meaningful, a process that has begun with campaign promises that are prohibited to secure, aimed at gaining female votes.
While traditional views often suggest that women may be forced to vote in some way by male members of the family, this may not necessarily be true.
Analyzing the results of two consecutive parliamentary elections held quickly in Bihar on 2005, economists Shamika Ravi and Mudit Kapoor found that between the two elections, the constituency with a significant increase in female turnout saw a change in the winning party and made a major contribution to the formation of a new government
At the same time, political parties must consider the election gains that will be brought about by the nomination of more female candidates.
Despite the increasing number of voters with gender equality, women accounted for only all candidates in this Bihar parliamentary election, up from 7 in 2010.
Each party should read the words on the wall: female voters can swing elections, so delegates must serve them better. rukmini. s@thehindu. co.