Women voters played a major role in the CMC polls. And it would be women corporators who would be playing major roles in the CMC council for next five years. Polling this week for the formation of new council not only saw emergence of a large number of women corporators, the voting trend among the fair sex in the city was also highly impressive.
While as many as 33 women made it the 59-ward council, more than one lakh women voters exercised their franchise from among 2,40,645 votes polled on Thursday. “More women turned up to vote because there were many women candidates this time and, moreover, the post of Mayor is also reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman,” said Ranjita Biswal, a journalist-turned-politician, who made it to the CMC council on a BJD ticket. Out of 350 candidates in the fray in the whole of city this time, a record 184 of them were women. Interestingly, women voters were the first to turn up at the polling booths. Cuttack is going to get its second woman Mayor on February 13. The first mayor of the city was also a woman. Nibedita Pradhan of the BJP had been elected to the coveted post in 2003 and she served in the same capacity till 2009.