Civic Polls: Women Voters Hold Key to Victory in Warangal

Warangal: Women voters are a decisive factor in the local body polls as they outnumber men in erstwhile Warangal district. Mindful of this, candidates for the ward member and sarpanch posts are actively seeking their support.

The six districts of united Warangal have a total of 22,44,097 voters, of which 10,99,187 are male voters, 11,44,801 female voters and 83 others. Women voters exceed men by 45,614. The local administrations have finalised polling arrangements across 75 mandals and 1,708 gram panchayats, which include 15,024 wards and as many polling centers.

Women's power would be strong in the new local bodies by virtue of the reservation of seats for them. Out of 1,683 panchayats up for polls, 725 sarpanch posts are reserved for women. Mahabubabad district leads with the highest reservation of 250 seats for women sarpanches.

A high-voltage campaign is currently on. Candidates of all political parties are making strategic moves to win the support of female voters. They are zealously offering incentives or gifts (nazaranalu/thayilalu) to entice women voters.

Parties and candidates are busy collecting details about women in Self-Help Groups (SHGs) on a ward-by-ward basis. Every party is convinced that the support of women voters would be critical in determining the winners for both sarpanch and ward member posts.