The Female Factor

Female voters are set to outnumber male voters by the 2029 Lok Sabha elections in India. Yet, the number of women in the political domain remains woefully low

- Rakhi Bose

AHEAD of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 39-year-old domestic worker Usha Ranjith has a decision to make. 

Usha, a Malda native residing in Delhi for ten years, admires Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and her initiatives for women. However, she recognises that Lok Sabha elections determine the prime minister. “As a migrant worker, the policies of the Centre impact me as much as state policies, sometimes even more,” Usha says. 

As a mother of two, Usha juggles her household duties and job and keeps herself informed about welfare schemes and freebies offered to women, while monitoring political developments in her hometown. “It’s Didi versus Modi in Bengal this time,” she says, without disclosing which side she is on. 

Ranjith is one of the 47 crore women eligible to vote in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, making her part of one of the biggest political ‘vote banks’ to emerge this year. 14.1 million first-time women voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in India this year. That is 15 per cent more than the number of new male voters. State Bank of India’s Economic Research Department (ERD) report has projected women voter turnout this year to be approximately 33 crore, which is 49 per cent of the total voters. After 2029, the report projects that at nearly 37 crore, women voters could outnumber registered male voters, whose count is pegged at around 36 crore. 

How has the quantum of women’s vote increased? And how does it impact elections?