In the first phase of polls for the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam, women, outnumbering male voters, turned out in significant numbers to exercise their voting rights. From as early as 5 am, women were observed lining up outside polling stations. Many expressed their intent to cast their votes early to promptly resume their daily tasks upon returning home.
In the five constituencies, the total number of women voters stands at 4,364,859, surpassing the count of male voters at 4,282,887, with an additional 123 registered under the third gender category. Notably, among the 35 contestants, only four are women, making up 11.4 percent of the total candidates.
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Three of these female candidates, including Roselina Tirkey from the Congress and independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury, are vying for seats in the Kaziranga constituency. It's noteworthy that Kaziranga, with 1,025,210 women voters and 1,024,883 male voters, boasts the richest candidate of the first phase.
In the Jorhat constituency, there are 878,192 women voters and 848,923 male voters, while Dibrugarh constituency has 849,563 women voters compared to 809,990 male voters. Similarly, Lakhimpur constituency comprises 790,882 women voters and 786,335 male voters.
On polling day, women were adorned in their finest attire, with elders donning the traditional 'mekhla-chador' and younger women showcasing various outfits as they eagerly awaited their turn to cast their votes. Among them was Chanda Sonar, who stood in line outside a polling booth at Tinsukia's Bengali Girls School. She mentioned her lack of an Aadhaar card due to her name not being updated in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).