Only two third-gender candidates contested 2026 assembly polls, none elected: EC

Not a single third-gender candidate won a seat in the recently-concluded assembly elections held across five states and a Union Territory, with only two contesting, one each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, according to Election Commission data.

Not a single third-gender candidate won a seat in the recently-concluded assembly elections held across five states and a Union Territory, with only two contesting, one each in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, according to Election Commission data. According to data made public on Friday, both candidates had to forfeit their deposits. A similar trend was seen in the 2021 Kerala and Tamil Nadu assembly elections. In Kerala, only one-third gender candidate contested the 2021 assembly polls, but had to forfeit their deposit after failing to secure a win. Tamil Nadu saw two third-gender candidates contesting the 2021 assembly elections, meeting the same fate. Last month, assembly polls were held in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal, the results of which were declared on May 4. Among the contested states, West Bengal recorded a strong turnout among third-gender electors in the second phase of assembly polls, with 91.28 per cent of them exercising their franchise. The state, with a total of 1,257 third-gender electors, saw 465 casting votes in Phase I and 792 in Phase II. The turnout in Phase 1 stood at 56.79 per cent, while it rose sharply to 91.28 per cent in Phase II. Puducherry, which has 139 third gender persons, recorded the highest overall turnout among third gender electors at 91.81 per cent, according to the poll body. Tamil Nadu has 7,728 third-gender electors, of whom only 60.49 per cent cast their votes in the April 23 polls. Among other states, Assam, with 343 third-gender electors, saw 36.84 per cent turnout, while Kerala, with 277 third-gender electors, recorded 57.04 per cent voter turnout. Former chief election commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla had pushed for allowing third gender persons to register themselves as voters in 'Others' or 'O' category, which is now the norm as EC identifies voters as 'Male', 'Female' and 'Others' or third gender.