Women outshine men in exercising franchise; no repoll at any booth in Milkipur, says ECI

Out of the 1,78,153 female voters in the constituency, 1, 20,127 (67. 43%) voted, while out of the 1,93,417 male voters, 1,23,049 (63.62%,) exercised their franchise: Poll panel

LUCKNOW Women voters outnumbered their male counterparts in exercising their franchise in the bypoll to the Milkipur assembly seat, which witnessed a record turnout of 65.44% on Wednesday.

People wait to cast their votes during the Milkipur Assembly by-election, in Ayodhya district, Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

Out of the 1,78,153 female voters in the constituency, 1, 20,127 (67. 43%) voted, while out of the 1,93,417 male voters, 1,23,049 (63.62%,) exercised their franchise. Among the eight third gender voters, two cast their vote in the bypoll, as per the Election Commission of India.

Women voters pushed the poll percentage graph in the bypoll. A large number of them came out of their home in rural areas to vote and were seen standing in queues at polling booths since early morning, said a district administration officer.

“The large turnout of women voters is likely to impact the fortunes of candidates in fray,” said SK Srivastava, a political observer.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ruled out repoll at any booth despite complaints lodged by the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“On polling day, complaints were received from various political parties. All were promptly investigated and appropriate action taken,” the chief electoral officer was quoted in an official release.

On Thursday, records of polling were scrutinised by observers and the returning officer at Government Inter College, Ayodhya. Six candidates/election agents, including poll agents of BJP and SP were present there. Records of polling stations and booths were scrutinized, but no irregularities were found.

After scrutiny, it was decided that there was no need for re-polling at any station in the assembly constituency. The counting of votes will commence at Government Inter College, Ayodhya, at 8am on February 8.

Ten candidates are in the fray in Milkipur, but the main contest is between BJP’s Chandrabhan Paswan and SP’s Ajeet Prasad, son of SP’s Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad.