CHANDIGARH: Punjab women outnumbered men in casting votes at a number of polling booths in Sunday’s SGPC elections. At most of the polling booths falling in Barnala and Sangrur, queues of women were there for all to see, whereas queues of men were either very thin or completely missing. Sukhdeep Kaur of Barnala said, “The women are taking keen interest in casting their votes as they want the administration of the religious body in safe hands. This is first time that women have come out to exercise their right to franchise in large numbers and it’s a good sign that they have started recognizing their rights in the electoral arena.”
Dalbir Kaur of Chananwal said, “Women have been facing candidates foisted on them and now they have taken charge and want to choose the persons they want to represent the religious body”.
Of the total 1,33,148 voters in Barnala, there are 74,335 (56%) women voters, while there are 58813 (44%) male voters. In Bholath constituency in Kapurthala district, which witnessed high voter turnout, queues of people waiting to cast their votes were seen at all its booths almost throughout the day. The number of women at these polling booths were around 8-10 times more than men voters. According to official sources, of the total around 55,000 SGPC voters, around 36,000 are women.
News Source: Times of India
