No. of women candidates, voters up

JAMSHEDPUR: With less than 24 hours left before the report cards of the Lok Sabha elections are published on Tuesday, candidates in Jharkhand like in other parts of the country are keeping their fingers crossed on the mandate of the electorate sealed in the EVMs securely kept in strongrooms.
The number of women candidates is 31 as compared to 25 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.This could mean in terms of seats, more women participation in the lower house of Parliament. The figures will be clear by Tuesday evening. In the 2019 polls, two were elected out of the 14 parliamentary seats in the state, one each from NDA and UPA.
Annapurna Devi from BJP had won Koderma seat and Geeta Koda of Congress emerged victorious from Singhbhum reserved seat. This time, Koda has switched over to BJP and the question is whether she will be able to retain her seat defeating JMM’s veteran woman candidate Joba Manjhi.
Eyes are also on the prestigious Dumka seat, where Disom guru Shibu Soren’s elder daughter-in-law Sita Soren is contesting on a BJP ticket. It remains to be seen whether the saffron party will be able to prove former CM Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana wrong that in Dumka, the bow and arrow symbol of JMM matters for any candidate to win the seat.
In Jharkhand over the years, there has been a steady rise in women contesting from various seats. According to Election Commission figures, in 2009, as many as 14 women had contested in the polls, which rose by four in 2014 general polls. In terms of victory both in 2009 and 2014, not a single seat was won by any woman candidate.
In the present elections, among the prominent women faces, BJP gave tickets to Annapurna Devi (Koderma), Geeta Koda (Singhbhum), Sita Soren (Dumka). JMM fielded Joba Manjhi from Singhbhum, Congress surprised all by giving ticket to Yashashwini Sahay from high-profile Ranchi seat and Mamta Bhuiyan got an RJD ticket for Palamu reserved seat.
Meanwhile, gender-wise voting trend shows in 2024 polls, of the 14 seats in the state, 12 seats barring Jamshedpur and Ranchi, women voters have been more active in exercising franchise. The figures shared by Jharkhand chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar said, “Of the 2.58 crore voters in the state, 1.7 crore voted. Of the 1.7 crore voters, 87.11 lakh were women.”