Over 150 eunuchs (transgenders), who have been registered as bonafide voters, asked the Delhi Election Office to put them under the female category in the elector list.
Now, Chief Electoral Office is legally examining this contentious issue. There are 519 eunuchs have been registered in the city's electoral rolls till August and 125 more have applied to enroll themselves in the voters list. This is the first time that the ballot paper's gender column will have a provision for a third category —'Others'.
One transgender, who has filed an application for change of category, said that she would prefer her name in the female category, and she has been asking the district electoral officer to change the category.
When asked, Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said that district election officers have received around 150 applications from eunuchs who have been demanding that their names be put under the female category on the elector list. According to Dev, bringing eunuchs on to the voter list was a priority for the Election Commission of India.
"That's why special camps were organised in districts," he added.
"This step has freed eunuchs from age-old bias and given them a new socio-political identity. They have approached the Election Commission to put them in the female category. The commission is legally examining this contentious issue," Dev added.
According to electoral office data, 519 eunuchs have been registered in the city's electoral rolls, while 125 more applications forms have been received by November 6.
According to police data, a majority of the eunuch population lives in North-West and North-East. Constituencies such as Vikaspuri, Bawana and Matiala have the highest number of eunuch voters, while New Delhi, Malviya Nagar, Shakur Basti and Kasturba Nagar don't have any. North-West district has the highest number of eunuchs with 101.