Compared to the 2013 state elections, in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, the number of transgender voters has increased by over 300, an official said. In the state, Assembly elections are due later this year.
As on July 31, the number of total voters registered in MP stood at 4.94 crore. Of these, 1,286 are transgenders.
"In the last Assembly polls, 970 voters of the third gender were registered. The number has now gone up to 1,286 in the recently published electoral rolls," MP's Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao told PTI on Saturday.
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Notably, MP was the first state to elect a transgender, Shabnam Mausi, as an MLA. In a by-poll in 2000, Mausi was elected from the Sohagpur Assembly constituency in Shahdol district.
In 1999, from Katni town of the state, Kamala Jaan was the first transgender to be elected to the mayor's office. Another transgender, Kamla Bua, in 2009, was elected as the mayor of the state's Sagar town.
The highest number of third gender voters, 94, was registered in the Bhopal Central Assembly constituency, said the Election Commission.
In MP, the total number of registered voters has gone up to 4.94 crore from 4.66 crore in 2013. Later this month, the EC is likely to publish the final list of voters in the state.
Just a few months after MP state polls, Lok Sabha elections 2019 will going to take place in the months of April-May to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.
