Patna: Women outdid men by 14 percentage points and more in voter turnout in seven districts of Bihar, where assembly elections were recently held, as per the Election Commission.
In 10 other districts, the gap was over 10 percentage points.
Patna, however, was the only district in the state to have recorded more turnout of men than women. A total of 57.88 per cent of the women voters in the district exercised their franchise, while 60.05 per cent of the men voted in the polls.
But on the other side, urban and semi-urban constituencies in Patna and Nalanda saw relatively lower female engagement. The turnout was 57.8 percent and 60.93 percent, respectively. Yet the sheer volume of women voters reflected their growing electoral significance.
The Bihar government has long leveraged gender-focused welfare schemes to build trust among women voters. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s administration, in particular, has emphasized programs from education to financial inclusion and social protection.
The Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojana, for instance, provided bicycles to school girls. Free school uniforms and supplies further lowered barriers to education. Meanwhile, the state’s liquor prohibition policy of 2016, though controversial, earned approval among many women who experienced reduced domestic alcohol-related abuse.
The latest entrant, Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, appears strategically timed. Launched on August 29, just weeks before the elections, it provides Rs 10,000 to one woman in every family as seed money to start small businesses. Over one crore women have already benefited from the scheme.
Interestingly, NDA is reinforcing the idea of financial inclusion in the state. The proportion of women with bank accounts surged from 26 percent in 2015-16 to 76 percent in 2019–20.
Women’s active participation in elections is not new to Bihar. But the gap between voting power and political representation remains stark. In the 2020 assembly elections, women’s turnout was 59.7 percent, higher than men’s 54.7 percent. Yet only 26 women were elected to the 243-member assembly, just over 10 percent.
