In a big show of strength at the ballot, women voters outnumbered their male counterparts in the Bihar assembly elections. According to the provisional data released by the Election Commission of India, the turnout among women was 71.6% while that for men was 62.8%.
In the first phase of voting on November 6, 69.04% per cent of women voted compared to 61.56 per cent of men. In the second and final phase on Tuesday, women's voter turnout increased further to 74.03 per cent. Meanwhile, the men's voter turnout was only 64.1 per cent.
There are 3.5 crore female electors in Bihar against 3.93 crore men, according to 2025 data.
This data does not include service and postal ballot voters and transgender voters. However, it is significant since in the final electorate in the rolls prepared by the ECI following its Special Intensive Revision (SIR), there were 42.33 lakh fewer women than men.
Why did women turn up in high numbers?
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been successful in creating a caste-neutral female vote bank since he assumed the office. This time both sides promised economic development and improved the law and order situation.
In bid to woo the women, the Nitish government launched the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, with PM Narendra Modi transferring Rs 10,000 each to 1.21 crore women associated with over 11 lakh Jeevika self-help groups.
Meanwhile, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav promised a dole of Rs 30,000 to women and permanent benefits to self-help groups of women or Jeevika Didis to counter the government’s move.
The BJP has been batting for “Sushasan Babu”or Nitish Kujmar and highlighting how a vote for Tejashwi as CM would mean a return of “jungle raj" (lawlessness). ‘Jungle raj’, which refers to widespread lawlessness in Bihar, is often used to describe the 15-year-long regime of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabro Debi from 1990 to 2005. During this period, Bihar also saw President’s Rule in 1999 and 2005.
On the other hand, Nitish is credited with pulling Bihar out of the lawlessness of the 1990s and restoring basic governance.
Did Seemanchal turnout play a role?
The voter turnout saw a significant rise in the Seemanchal region, with districts like Katihar witnessing a notable surge. Around 28% of Bihar’s 2.31 crore Muslim population live in the Seemanchal region comprising Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria and Purnia districts.
Katihar topped the turnout chart with 77.80% while Kishanganj recorded 78.15%, followed by Purnia (76.26%), Supaul (72.68%), East Champaran (71.44%) and West Champaran (70.86%).
Traditionally, Tejashwi had a traditional support base of Muslims and Yadavs while Nitish was always backed by the extremely backward class (EBC) which comprises 36 % of the population and contains 113 castes (82 Hindu and 31 Muslim).
However, with women receiving Rs 10,000 in their accounts just before the elections, makes it difficult to predict whom the women voted for.
What happened in 2020 and 2015?
The last time women recorded a notably high turnout was in 2015, when 60.48 per cent cast their ballots compared to 53.32 per cent of men.
In the 2020 polls, women's turnout stood at 60% compared to 54% for men.
Historically, more women have voted in favour of Nitish Kumar than men. Post-poll data for the 2020 polls showed that the National Democratic Alliance's razor-thin victory margin of just about 12,000 votes was effectively delivered by women voters.
Among women voters, 38 per cent backed the NDA compared to the 37 per cent supporting the Mahagathbandhan. However, among male voters, the Mahagathbandhan held the lead. The one per cent advantage among women, who turned up in higher numbers, proved decisive for the NDA.
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