TANAKPUR: Sushma Devi is looking for a change as she was preparing chapatis for her guests at her affordable eatery in the main market of Tanakpur in Champawat, from where Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is contesting by-elections.
“I feel so grateful and lucky to have witnessed Maharaj ji (UP CM Yogi Adityanath) during his visit (for canvassing support for CM Dhami) the other day. Champawat needs good schools, hospitals and better facilities. I hope CM Dhami will bring the change here,” the 48-year-old said.
Devi is one of the 46,000 female voters from Champawat from where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decided to field CM Dhami, following his surprising loss from the Khatima assembly seat in the recently concluded state assembly elections in March this year.
Of the total 96,213 voters in the constituency, 50,171 are male and 46,042 are female. In the March 2022 voting, a total of 63,370 voters cast their vote of which 32,602 were women and 30,768 were men. BJP’s Kailash Gahtori defeated Congress’ Hemesh Kharakwal by 5304 votes.
In the recently concluded state assembly elections in March 2022, women emerged as the driving force while voting. In 53 assembly constituencies, out of the total of 70, women voters outnumbered their male counterparts. Interestingly, out of these 53 seats, 41 went to the BJP as they secured 47 seats.
Uttarakhand state assembly elections have shown the trend of an increasing gap between women and men voters with women voters leading in the voting percentage with each election.
In 2007 the gap between the voting percentage of women and men stood at 0.50% which increased to 3.10% in 2012 and 7.06% in the 2017 state assembly elections. In the 2022 elections, the gap stood at 4.60%.
The voting percentage of women stood at 67.20% in the 2022 state assembly elections while men are trailing at 62.60%.
In the year 2002, the voting percentage of women stood at 56.64% while 55.95% of men voted. The voting percentage of women stood at 59.45% in the 2007 state assembly elections while men trailed with 58.95%.
In 2012 a total of 68.12% of women voted while 64.41% of men came out to vote. In the 2017 elections, 68.72% of women voted while men were behind again with 61.11%.
Aware of the statistics, CM Dhami is trying to woo the voters by promising multiple projects in the district that shares its borders with Nepal. The Uttarakhand government has already promised roads, colleges, a bypass and the opening of border gates with Nepal for ease of doing business with the neighbouring country.
“We are committed to developing Champawat as well as Uttarakhand under the visionary leadership of our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said CM Dhami who was in Tanakpur on Sunday for a public meeting.
Janki Chand, a resident of Banbasa, urged everyone to go out and vote. “I request all the voters to go out and vote. Voting is our constitutional right and we must exercise our right to uphold the democratic values of our country. We are lucky that the incumbent CM is contesting from our constituency,” the 27-year-old added.