Women seem to be keen on asserting their right to franchise this election. At every village and taluka that this team visited in Gondal, Chotila, Than and Wadhwan, there were women standing in the queue to cast their vote.
While most of them seemed to have been egged by their menfolk to come out and vote, there is no denying that the women did make their presence felt.
In Gondal city, young and old females came either alone or accompanied by men. Interestingly, polling booth officials said that women usually come to cast their vote after 9 am when the breakfast is made or after 3 pm.
“In the morning, the number of women voters was very less. But it has picked up drastically after 2 pm. Most of the voters during this time are women,” said Ashok Joshi, area officer at a booth in Than city, pointing out at the long queue of women outside the booth.
In Ribda village of Gondal constituency, a group of men sat under a tree waiting for their turn. “Usually the voting is not very high in our village but this time the collector came here and held a meeting urging us to vote as it would help solve our problems. This is the reason for the high turnout,” said Ashoksinh Jadeja. He said that the queue was too long and they decided to let the women vote first. “They have to return home and cook lunch as well so it is better to allow them to vote first,” said Jadeja.
While the number of women coming out to vote is encouraging, few are willing to talk about either the process or the candidate. A few of the women DNA tried to talk outside a booth in Ribda village pleaded ignorance about the candidates while some refused to say anything. “If you want, I can vote for you,” a woman said coming out of the polling booth when questioned who she thought had a chance at winning.
In Vadod village of Wadhwan seat, women were seen rushing to the polling booth as the clock ticked final minutes of voting. “Women have also come out in large numbers to vote this time,” said SM Patel, zonal officer on poll duty in the village.
