NEW DELHI:
Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat with 167 votes saw highest turnout of transgenders as the voters listed in “other” category continue to be low all across the country, according to the preliminary data in Election Commission’s Voter turnout app.
In most of the constituencies, the number of votes polled by transgenders was nil or below 10 with exceptions in big cities. Bangalore North had the second highest turnout in “other” segment with 105 votes followed by 72 in Kalyan, 71 in Puducherry, 64 in Tiruchirapalli and 55 in Chennai Central, according to the voters turn out figure till phase 6 of the Lok Sabha elections, according to the EC app.
Mumbai and Bengaluru constituencies otherwise saw low voter turnouts. The turnout in Bangalore North was only 54.66 per cent. Among smaller cities where transgender turnout was in double digits include Nandyal (71) and Kadapa (68) in Andhra Pradesh, Bhopal (66) in Madhya Pradesh, Raipur (33) in Chhattisgarh, Anand (30) in Gujarat and Haridwar (22) in Uttarakhand.
Enrolling transgenders in the “other” category is a recent phenomenon but very few people have come out to register. Only 38,325 voters are listed in the others category across the country. Karnataka alone has over 4,000 other voters while the number is over 1,800 in Maharashtra and 660 in Delhi.
The transgenders form a minuscule component of 900 million strong Indian electorate. According to 2011 census, India’s transgender population stands at 4.9 lakh.
In the national capital, the highest 46 votes were polled in Chandni Chowk in other category.
