What Are We Fearing?

In the context of the furore over the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha and its doubtful journey to the Lok Sabha in this session, it is useful to examine the experience in Kerala’s last assembly elections in 2006.

The strength of the electorate was 2.14 crore (women numbering 1.11 crore or 52%), which was about 67% of the total population of the state according to the 2001 Census. Votes polled were 1.55 crore (0.79 crore were women, accounting for 51% of the electorate). The average voting percentage was 72.38 (73.2% for males and 71.1% for females), which is slightly higher than the figure of 72.22% in the 2001 elections.