Guwahati:

Women voters outnumbered men in all five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam that went to polls in the first phase and today women came out in large numbers to exercise their right to vote.

Women were seen queuing at polling stations from 5 a.m., with most saying they wanted to vote early so they could go home and continue with their daily chores.

The total number of women voters in the five constituencies is 43,64,859, while there are 42,82,887 male voters and 123 third gender voters.

However, only four female candidates are in the running, accounting for 11.4% of the total 35 contestants.

Three of the four candidates, including Congress MP Roselina Tirkey and the richest candidate in the first phase, Diluwara Begum Chowdhury , both from Kaziranga constituency, which has 10,25,210 female voters and 10,24,883 male voters.

Rinku Roy of Gana Sangram Parishad is contesting from Sonitpur, a district with 8,21,012 women and 8,12,755 men.

Jorhat constituency has 8,78,192 female voters and 8,48,923 male voters, Dibrugarh constituency has 8,49,563 female voters and 8,09,990 male voters, and Lakhimpur has 7,90,882 female voters and 7,86,335 male voters.

Women were seen dressed up, senior citizens in traditional ‘mekhla-chador’ and young girls in various attires eagerly waiting to cast their votes.

Chanda Sonar, who was queuing outside the Bengal Girls School polling station in Tinsukia, said she still did not have an Aadhaar card as her name had not been updated in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“The names of all my family members are in the NRC, but mine is missing. I was not issued an Aadhaar card and was therefore deprived of the benefits of many schemes provided by the central and state governments for women,” she said.

Pallavi Gohain, a public relations professional in New Delhi, said she returned home to Dibrugarh to vote because “it is my democratic right and I want to see the candidate of my choice in Parliament.” “.

Mira Gogoi, a 45-year-old housewife from Sibsagar, said she has received almost every scheme offered by the government and “I am grateful for it”. I voted with my conscience.”

Tea industry member Puja Tirkey, who exercises her franchise in Sarupathar in Kaziranga constituency, said political parties “lure us with high promises during elections but forget about it in the next five years.” One point. “I call on all parties to remember their commitments and honor them. “

Pragya Borgohain, 20, a student of Dibrugarh University and voting for the first time, said she was happy to vote and had a lot of hopes, especially job opportunities “I just hope that the winning candidate will rise up to meet our expectations.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)