Women voters outnumber men in all 5 Assam LS seats where voting is underway
Guwahati (PTI): Women, who outnumber male voters in all the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to polls in the first phase, came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise on Friday.
Women were seen queuing up before polling stations from 5 am and most of them said they wanted to cast their vote early so that they could return home and continue with their daily chores.
The total number of women voters in the five constituencies is 43,64,859 compared to 42,82,887 men, while there are 123 from the third gender.
There are, however, only four women candidates in the fray, constituting 11.4 per cent of the total 35 contestants.
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Three of the four candidates, including Congress' Roselina Tirkey and independent aspirant Diluwara Begum Chowdhury, the richest candidate in the first phase, are contesting from Kaziranga constituency, which has 10,25,210 women and 10,24,883 male voters.
Rinku Roy of Gana Sangram Parishad is contesting from Sonitpur which has 8,21,012 women and 8,12,755 men.
Jorhat constituency has 8,78,192 women and 8,48,923 men, Dibrugarh has 8,49,563 women voters and 8,09,990 males and Lakhimpur has 7,90,882 women voters and 7,86,335 males.
Women were seen dressed in their best with seniors in the traditional 'mekhla-chador' and young girls in various outfits waiting eagerly to vote.
Chanda Sonar, who had queued outside a polling booth in Tinsukia's Bengali Girls School, said she still does not have an Aadhaar card as her name has not been updated in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
''The names of all my family members are there in the NRC, but mine is missing. I haven't got the Aadhaar card and as such have been deprived of the benefits of many schemes that the central and state governments are giving to women'', she said.
Pallavi Gohain, a PR professional in New Delhi, said she has come home to Dibrugarh to cast her vote as ''it is my democratic right and I, hopefully, want to see a candidate of my choice in Parliament''.
Housewife Mira Gogoi, 45, of Sibsagar said she has received almost all the schemes from the government and ''I am grateful for it. I have come to vote according to my conscience''.
Puja Tirkey, a member of the tea community who is exercising her franchise at Sarupathar under Kaziranga constituency, said political parties ''woo us during elections with tall promises and forget it for the next five years. I appeal all parties to remember their promises and fulfil those''.
Pragya Borgohain, 20, a first-time voter and a student of Dibrugarh University, said she is excited to cast her vote and has a lot of hopes, particularly related to employment opportunities, and ''I just hope the winning candidate will rise up to our expectations''.
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Instagram removes BJP’s post claiming Cong ‘will snatch wealth of non-muslims’ following backlash
New Delhi: An animated video post shared on BJP’s official Instagram handle, asserting that the Congress party would snatch wealth from non-Muslims to ‘distribute it to its favorite community of invaders,’ has sparked significant backlash. Following the uproar, the photo sharing platform has taken down the post, reports Newslaundry.com.
Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether the post was removed by the BJP or by Instagram following mass reporting by several users as “misinformation” and “hate speech”. The video depicted Rahul Gandhi holding the Congress manifesto which transforms into the logo of the Muslim league. Furthermore, it sought support for PM Modi from every ‘Bharatiya,’ who is also shown wearing a saffron turban.
According to the report, it also contained a clip of PM Modi alleging that the former PM Manmohan Singh had said, “Muslims have the first claim on our resources,” insinuating that if the Congress were to assume power, it would confiscate the money and assets of non-Muslims, redistributing them to Muslims, whom it favored. Labeling Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, the video depicted historical invaders as looters who plundered India's resources and suggested that the Congress party continues to empower individuals from the same community.
The video then communicated that the Congress party’s manifesto is “nothing but Muslim league’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims.” It also slinged the BJP’s official slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar,’ and called that it was the need of the hour, since Modi only has the “strength to stop the Congress party’s evil plans.”
Similar claims have also been made by several BJP leaders. Recently, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the Congress intends to “Give your children's property to Muslims.”
