Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) Polls : Around 40 Sex Workers Eligible To Vote

Guwahati: A special drive has been carried out by the Kamrup metro district administration to ensure that the sex workers could exercise the democratic right to cast their vote and this move comes after a direction by the Supreme Court.

As per reports, about 40 female sex workers in Guwahati are eligible to exercise their voting rights in the upcoming Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections.

There are roughly about 1200 sex workers in the city and it includes both male and female sex workers. However, the number of male and transgender sex workers who will exercise their franchise in the upcoming GMC elections is yet to be discovered.

Most of the sex workers hail from different parts of the state but have been residing in Guwahati due to various reasons. Their names have also been registered in the voters' list in their native places.

The total number of participants in the upcoming GMC polls will come down to approximately 8 lakh voters.

The elections will be carried out at 780 polling booths spread across the 60 newly demarcated wards of Guwahati.

According to the electoral roll, the total number of voters in Guwahati stands at 7,97,807, out of which 3,97,128 happen to be males while 4,00,654 are females. 26 voters come from the third gender.

Meanwhile, a buoyant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to contest in the GMC polls after the success of the party in the Punjab elections.

The party is likely to field candidates in each of the 60 wards with 99 per cent of candidates to be chosen from among the people of the wards.

On the other hand, State BJP president Bhabesh Kalita said that the BJP and the AGP would ally in the forthcoming GMC polls.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spelt out that the party should keep its eyes wide open to see if any BJP member is making statements against the party in public. 

Elections to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) will be held in April, with Dispur giving its nod in this regard.

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