Women voters outnumbered men by over 10 percentage points in 17 districts covering nearly 200 seats, Election Commission data showed Thursday in what could give Nitish Kumar a leg up in becoming Bihar’s chief minister for a record 10th time Friday.
In the first phase of polling on 6 November for 121 Assembly seats, women voter turnout was 69.04 per cent while the polling percentage among men was 61.56. In the second phase, women voter turnout was 74.56 per cent, and 64.41 per cent for men.
Overall, Election Commission data released on Thursday showed, the women voter turnout was 71.78 per cent while the polling percentage among men was 62.98.
This year, Supaul recorded the biggest gender gap in voting, at 20.71 percentage points in favour of women.
A wide gap in favour of women was also recorded in Kishanganj (19.5 per cent), Madhubani (18.4), Gopalganj (17.72), Araria (14.43), Darbhanga (14.41) and Madhepura (14.24).
Other districts where women voter turnout was over 10 percentage points more than that of men were Kishanganj (19.5 points), Madhubani (18.4), Gopalganj (17.72), Araria (14.43), Darbhanga (14.41), Madhepura (14.24), Siwan (13.83), Purnea (13.36), Sheohar (12.48), Sitamarhi (12.43), Saharsa (12.37), Purvi Champaran (11.13), Paschim Champaran (11.03), Khagaria (10.66), Samastipur (10.64) and Banka (10.53).
All these 17 districts account for about 198 seats in the Assembly. The halfway mark is 121 seats.
Bihar registered a voter turnout of 67.13 per cent, the highest-ever in the state.
The state has also recorded the highest voter turnout of women in its history.
The Telegraph had reported how welfare benefits such as free ration, LPG connection and specially the transfer of Rs 10,000 under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana (MMRY) seemed to be quietly reshaping electoral loyalties.
In several villages across north Bihar, women said the scheme could override traditional caste or community preferences.
According to the 2023 caste survey in Bihar, 94 lakh families earn less than Rs 6,000 per month, and the one-time transfer of Rs 10,000 is significant.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the scheme – which can be called Bihar’s equivalent of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Lakshmir Bhandar – on 26 September, during Navratri.
By the first week of October, the amount had been credited to the accounts of 25 lakh women of Bihar.
“For us, Rs 10,000 is a big help. I plan to buy goats and start a small business,” Sunita Devi, a 45-year-old Mallah woman, had told The Telegraph on the eve of the first phase of polls.
In the previous Assembly polls in recent years, experts have said that women overwhelmingly voted for Nitish because of reservation in panchayats, government jobs, alcohol ban, and welfare schemes for girls.
A Centre for the Study of Developing Societies post-poll analysis of the 2020 results said that Tejashwi Yadav (now the Mahagatbandhan chief ministerial face), trailed among women in the age group 18-39 by 5 percentage points and gender swing for the National Democratic Alliance (JDU-BJP) was 2 percentage points higher than the Mahagatbandhan.
A total of 7.45 crore electors were eligible to cast their votes in the Bihar polls this year, held in two phases on 6 and 11 November. The results will be declared on Friday.