Vijayapura: As the MLC election is just a few days away and the camping is only getting intense, the seven candidates for dual seat of Vijayapura and Bagalkot Constituency are eying at the female voters as they play a decisive role in the election.
With both the Districts having more women voters than men, the candidates are making efforts to reach out to them to clinch their votes.
According to the information of District Administration, while Vijayapura has 1864 male voters and 2076 female voters, Bagalkot has 1674 male and 1776 female voters for the local body constituency. It may be noted that in this election, only elected representatives of different civic bodies, MLA, MLC and MPs can vote.
Since it is clear from the statistics that women hold the key in the election than their male counterparts, the candidates are making every effort to secure their votes. According to sources, the candidates are contacting the husbands or the senior family members of the women voters to convince them to vote for them. Interestingly, despite women playing a vital role in the MLC polls, except in Chikkamagaluru, no other district has a woman candidate in the fray. Some of the women candidates believe that since women voters are more, thus, it would have been easier to elect the woman candidate if the parties had fielded women.
“Unfortunately, women being in large numbers as voters for MLC polls, they have to vote for men as they are contesting in large numbers by depriving women from contesting for Upper House,” said Halagani Gram Panchayat President Vijayashri Holevvagol. She said that while seven candidates are in fray for Vijayapura-Bagalkot dual seat, no woman is contesting the polls.
Meanwhile it is no secret that in the majority of the GP where women have won, unfortunately their husbands take all decisions rather than their wife who is democratically elected as member. Since the candidates are aware of this fact, they are contacting the husbands of the women members and trying to woo them to vote.
“Often it is seen that either women do not prefer to speak to men or they listen mostly to their men in taking important decisions such as voting. Thus ultimately, the men take the final call for the women members,” said one of the members.
