Surge in women voter participation in recent Assembly elections - Women centric schemes did make a difference.

Out of these, 5 women were elected to the assembly; of the remaining 29 female candidates, 6 placed second, 15 in third, 5 in fourth, and 3rd spot.

The election in Uttar Pradesh has taken an intriguing turn, bringing women into the decision-making process. According to electoral commission data, the proportion of female voters who voted was 70.42 percent, higher than that of male voters, which was 68.78 percent.

According to the results of the Uttar Pradesh elections, women's voting participation has begun to rise. When the 2002 assembly elections were held, women made up half of the voters. At the same time, around 57% of men voted. When the most recent assembly elections were held in 2017, women outnumbered men in terms of voting percentage. In 2017, roughly 60% of men and more than 63% of women voted.

Given the change on the ground, the political parties bowed to the air.

BJP welcomed women into the party by distributing 42 tickets to female candidates in 2012 and 46 tickets in 2017. whereas the SP, BSP, and Congress gave 37,32,37 in 2012 and 34,21,12 tickets to female candidates in 2017, respectively.

The Congress is betting heavily on female voters, offering 40 percent of seats to women, and the "Priyanka Gandhi "Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon" slogan has recognized that politics cannot be done without women." Which made  the SP promising an annual pension of Rs 18,000 to all women and  BSP promising with  50% reservation in politics and government jobs,

But the BJP leads the pack in terms of female candidates as

• The BJP has offered 42 tickets to women out of 371 candidates named so far, compared to 44 women out of 398 candidates in the previous election in 2012.

• The BJP won a total of 47 seats in this election, including 7 seats won by women who were elected to the House, whereas only 40 male candidates out of 354 candidates were able to win the election.

• In the 2012 assembly elections, 240 of the 371 BJP candidates were defeated, with 214 of those losing their deposits.

• In comparison to men, 26 women were forfeited in the same period.

Similarly, the BJP nominated 350 candidates in the 2007 legislative elections. At this event, only 34 ladies were given tickets.

Out of these, 5 women were elected to the assembly; of the remaining 29 female candidates, 6 placed second, 15 in third, 5 in fourth, and 3rd spot.

Whereas women were given 29 out of 324 seats by the Samajwadi Party.

Out of 401 candidates, the Bahujan Samaj Party fielded 20 women.

Only two women were given tickets in Congress out of 41 candidates.

So far, 93 women have been given tickets out of a total of 1137 declared candidates by these four mainstream parties.

The election has significantly boosted for women voters to turn out and vote, and this has been facilitated by an uptick in women-centric schemes, cash incentives, an increase in women's literacy level, peaceful elections, women's awareness, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, the growth of Self Help Groups (SHGs), and Panchayati Raj system reforms, all of which are assisting to continue increasing women's visibility in the political and social realms. 

The BJP attempted to lure female voters in its manifesto for Uttar Pradesh by promising to deliver a free scooty to every deserving girl student going to college. In addition, all Ujjwala beneficiaries have been told that on Holi and Deepawali, they will receive two complimentary LPG cylinders.

Bjp also came up with several women's empowerment schemes, such as

• The Chief Minister will increase the Kanya Sumangala Yojana from 15 thousand to 25 thousand.

• Under the Chief Minister's Mass Marriage Grant Scheme, he announced financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh for the marriage of daughters of poor families.

• 1000 crores allocated for Mission Pink Toilet.

• Every widow and destitute woman will be given a pension of Rs. 1500 per month.

• The security of women will be further ensured by doubling the network of three new women's battalions.

• CCTV cameras will be installed near all public places and educational institutions. 3000 pink police booths will be set up.

• The Avanti Bai Lodhi Self-Help Group Mission started at a cost of 5 thousand crores.

• The number of women will be doubled in all government jobs, including the UPPSC.

• To make 1 crore women self-reliant, loans will be given at a minimum rate of up to Rs 1 lakh.

According to the data from the Election Commission's electoral rolls for 2020, there are 14.51 crore voters in UP. 7.85 crore are males, while 6.66 crores is females. In some ways, 45 percent of voters are women, Which makes them the decision-maker for Uttar Pradesh elections but this surge should not end with the elections but also serves the purpose to highlight and solve women's issues such as the dowry system, illiteracy, domestic violence, women harassment, the promotion of employment opportunities, and the reduction of gender inequality. Meaningful and concrete steps should be taken in these crucial aspects only then will female voters be capable of playing a definitive and enhancing in elections, which will be beneficial to the nation’s development.

A Report by Deepshikha Pandey