The Shillong parliamentary seat will be a battle among men although there are more female voters than males — an irony especially when the tag “matrilineal” has always been a prefix while describing society here.

Of a total of 11,97,806 votes, 6,11,714 are females under the Shillong parliamentary constituency which covers 36 Assembly segments. There are 2,053 polling stations here.

In the Tura Lok Sabha seat, which has 24 Assembly segments, there are 7,16,989 voters, of whom, 3,53,460 are females. There are also two female non-resident Indians who have registered themselves. Voters will cast their vote in 1,114 polling stations.

But in spite of having more female voters, the Shillong seat will witness a battle among men. All the six candidates in the fray for the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls are men.

These include sitting MP Vincent H. Pala of the Congress, Jemino Mawthoh of the United Democratic Party (UDP), who is also supported by the allies of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, Sanbor Shullai of the BJP, and Independents Romeo Phira Rani, Samuel Hashah, and T.H.S. Bonney.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, there was a lone woman candidate — Ivoryna Shylla — who contested as an Independent.

However, though the Tura Lok Sabha seat has more male voters, there is one female candidate — former Union minister Agatha K. Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP). Agatha, who was a two-time parliamentarian, will be facing former chief minister Mukul M. Sangma of the Congress and Meghalaya BJP vice-president Rikman G. Momin.

In Selsella, under West Garo Hills, where an Assembly bypoll will be held along with the parliamentary polls, there are two female candidates — June Eliana R. Marak of the Congress and Ferlin C.A. Sangma of the NPP. Besides, there are two male candidates — Sayeedullah Nongrum of the UDP and Adorsho Sangma of the BJP.

Five years ago, the percentage of women who came out to vote in Shillong parliamentary seat was 65.47 per cent while in Tura, it was 78.06 per cent.

The women folk also had a large role to play in deciding the fate of the candidates in 2014. In the entire state, the turnout of women voters was 70.09 per cent while men voters registered a turnout of only 67.95 per cent.

Voters will decide the fate of the candidates of Shillong and Tura parliamentary constituencies, and Selsella Assembly seat on April 11.