Bengaluru: Though female voters outnumber the male voters in Koppal district in Karnataka but so far only one woman won the state assembly election from this district so far.
According to the available data, Koppal district has a total of 11,28,764 voters, out of which 5,62,376 are male voters and 5,66,341 are female voters. This means that the total number of female voters is 3,965 more than male voters. Among the five assembly constituencies of the district, Gangavati, Koppal, and Kanakagiri assembly constituencies have more female voters than male voters.
The constituency-wise voter count is also worth noting. While there are 1,25,208 male voters in the constituency, there are 1,27,185 female voters. In the Gangavati assembly constituency, there are 99,497 male voters and 1,01,089 female voters, and in the Kanakagiri assembly constituency, there are 1,09,744 male voters and 1,12,583 female voters. Among these three assembly constituencies, Kanakagiri assembly constituency has the highest number of women voters.
Additionally, the district administration has also prepared a list of young voters and voters above the age of 80 years. There are 18,301 voters in the age group of 80 years and above, and 26,867 young voters in the district are eager to vote for the first time.
According to election commission data only one woman won in the state assembly election so far. In 1952 Mahadevamma Sirawara was elected from Koppal Legislative Assembly from the Lok Seva Sangh. It was the first election when Koppal in Raichur district was a constituency, but since then, no one else has been elected.
The 16th election is currently underway in five assembly constituencies, and only eight candidates have contested from five constituencies so far. Even major parties have not given tickets to women. However, BJP has, however, given nomination to Hemalatha Nayak.
According to pro-women activist Savitri Mazumdar said, “Hemalatha Nayak may have fallen behind due to a lack of opportunities, but not due to her ability. It is special that Hemalatha Nayak of Koppal, an ordinary worker of the BJP party, was elected as the first woman member of Vidhan Parishad from Koppal district. More women should be given the opportunity to contest election”.
