Women of this village do not vote in Panchayat elections whereas they do vote in parliament and assembly polls. Katiya Kammu village of Shahjhanpur in Uttar Pradesh, about 150 km away from state capital Lucknow, has a population of nearly 3,000 voters including 200-250 Hindus. Rest are Muslims.
Women have never voted in Panchayat election in this village for several decades. However, they are not forced, claims a group of villagers, and say they willingly stay away from the electoral exercise.
“They do vote in parliament and assembly elections. So what is the problem,” asks one villager. Ironically, the post of village Pradhan this time is reserved for a woman. So this time a woman will be elected as the village Pradhan but only by men.
“Women have never voted in the Pradhan polls in this Muslim-dominated village with around 3,000 voters,” a villager says. Another local adds, “I am 40 years old but do not remember women having ever cast their vote in the pradhan elections.”
But what led to such a bizarre tradition? Burqa-clad women are often accused of resorting to bogus voting, leading to disputes among the locals. So the villagers have a consensus that woment won’t vote in local body elections, explains a woman.
The district administration tried to persuade the men to allow women to vote last time but failed. Women are happy to follow the tradition for the sake of peace in the village.
