Women voters outnumber men in 22 of the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu.
In the previous Lok Sabha elections in May 2009, women outnumbered men in 15 constituencies.
Maximum in southern districtsAs in the past, the southern districts account for a maximum number of such constituencies – Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Tuticorin.
North Tamil Nadu, which had only two such constituencies (Arakkonam and Vellore) five years ago, closely follows the south this time with six – Chennai North, Kancheepuram, Arakkonam, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Arni.
The western belt that had none in 2009; it now has four constituencies (Namakkal, Erode, Pollachi and The Nilgiris) with greater number of women electors.
On the findings, Praveen Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, says one has to compare them with the Census data and should not view them in isolation.
As for the aspect that the southern districts, in general, have higher women electors than men, he does not see any discrepancy in enrolment.
This could be due to a number of factors including migration of men for livelihood. In some constituencies such as Karur which has a large number of textile mills, women naturally outnumber men.
It is only this time that the gender ratio of electors (999) is higher that of the State population (996).
If one were to look at the voting behaviour of women in the 15 constituencies during the 2009 polls, only in five of these constituencies the turnout of women (in terms of percentage) was higher than that of men, and in all these constituencies, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led front had won.
The five constituencies were Perambalur, Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Madurai and Ramanathapuram. Even at the State level, the DMK-led combination (including Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi) won a maximum number of seats with 27.
