Women voter turnout hits record high in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry

NEW DELHI: Women voter turnout remained high in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry on Thursday, not only recording the highest ever turnout but also surpassing the male voter turnout in the two states and the Union Territory. The female voter turnout was as high as 91.4%, 86.5% and 81.2% in Puducherry, Assam and Kerala. In comparison, male voter turnout was 88.1% in Puducherry, 85.3% in Assam and 75.1% in Kerala. The gender turnout gap is largest in Kerala at nearly 6 percentage points, compared with 3.2 percentage points in Puducherry and just 1.1 percentage points in Assam. Enthusiastic participation of women voters drove up overall turnout in three states/Utahs. Most political parties target women voters in their manifesto promises. In Kerala, the LDF has promised to increase female labor force participation to 50%, while the UDF is offering free bus travel to women.