Women Emerge As 'Kingmakers' In Bihar, Fill Void Created By Migrant Workers In State
At least 2.52 crore females voted in comparison to 2.47 crore males in the state where the polling for Assembly elections concluded recently.
By Dev Raj
Published : November 12, 2025 at 8:13 PM IST
|Updated : November 13, 2025 at 7:12 AM IST
Patna: The 2025 Bihar Assembly election, which witnessed a record voter turnout of 66.91 per cent, would also be remembered for the 'coming of age of women voters' in the state.
The women voters have decisively emerged as 'kingmakers'. They decisively stepped out of the shadow of men in their households to vote in massive numbers – indicating their electoral empowerment coming full circle – and beat the male voters in exercising their right to franchise by a hefty margin.
Bihar had 7.45 crore electors, including 3.94 crore men and 3.51 crore women, when the dates for the poll in two phases were announced. The figures highlighted the already skewed sex ratio of the state.
However, when the polls started, 71.6 per cent women voters turned up at the booths to cast their votes in comparison to 62.8 per cent men voters – a huge gap of 8.8 per cent between the two sexes. They beat the men in absolute numbers as well – 2.52 crore females voted in comparison to 2.47 crore males.
The Election Commission (EC) did not compile gender specific data prior to 1962, but a perusal of data since then shows that the polling percentage of women in Bihar showed improvement since 1980, and embarked on a steady upswing since the 2010 Assembly polls, surpassing men.
Around 54.49 per cent eligible women voted in comparison to 51.12 per cent eligible men voters. In 2015, the voter turnout of females was 60.48 per cent against 53.32 per cent males. The polling percentage for females and males in the 2020 state election was 59.69 per cent and 54.45 per cent, respectively.
“The improvement in the polling percentage of female voters in Bihar could be attributed to women's empowerment. It has been a result of various women and girl-oriented schemes brought forth by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Distribution of bicycles, school dress, 50 per cent reservation in panchayati raj institutions, 35 per cent reservation in government jobs, and different employment schemes are some of them,” Patna-based psychologist Dr. Binda Singh told ETV Bharat.
“While treating women hailing from the rural areas, I have noticed that education has improved among them. A majority of them are working in something or other, while their husbands at times are sitting idle. This has lent a sense of empowerment in them. They have the feeling that they can form the government,” Singh added.
However, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) national vice-president Rampari Devi, differed over the reasons behind the polling percentage of women being higher than that of men.
“A huge number of men of the state have become migrant workers due to poverty and unemployment prevailing here. The women are left behind at home. Naturally, when the polls come, their percentage as voters would be more than men. Secondly, they have become more aware and they vote according to the circumstances. We think they have come out in large numbers to vote to change the present political dispensation,” Rampari said.
What Rampari said had a ring of truth in it. While gender-specific data of the second phase of Bihar poll is yet to come, the data of the first phase shows that the gap between the polling percentage of women and men was more in the districts that are considered poor and hotbed of migration.
For example, the female voter turnout was 76.04 per cent in comparison to 58.32 percent for males in Gopalganj district, 68.26 per cent for females and 59.93 per cent for males in Saran district, 71.25 per cent for females in comparison to 56.84 per cent for males in Darbhanga district, and 77.04 per cent against 62.80 per cent in Madhepura district, and 75.86 per cent compared to 63.49 per cent in Saharsa district.
On the other hand, the difference in voter turnout of women and men was less in districts that are a bit developed. Around 57.88 per cent females and 60.05 per cent males voted in Patna district, while 60.93 per cent females and 58.80 per cent males in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Nalanda district, and 63.17 per cent females against 60.90 per cent males in Buxar district. These districts are better in per capita income and employment opportunities.
Though different political parties differ on whom the women have voted for, they agree that they could have been lured by the sops showered by the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government or the promises made by the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), also known as the Mahagathbandhan.
“The Rs 10,000 given to over 1.4 crore women in the state to start some venture or employment, along with a promise to provide Rs 2 lakh more if they do well, has worked wonders. Similarly 125 units of free electricity has provided direct relief to all households, especially the women, who have to manage them. It made them happy and drew them to polling booths,” a senior JDU leader considered close to Nitish told ETV Bharat.
On the other hand, RJD Bihar unit general secretary and spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said: “The women thought enough is enough. They have become frustrated with poverty, inflation, migration, and unemployment. They keep seeing their families suffer and queued at the booths to pick a government that would address these issues and also provide better health services, irrigation facilities and education.”
While the exit polls conducted by different agencies have given a clear edge to the NDA, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, the chief ministerial candidate of INDIA, has rejected them by asserting that he has felt the winds of change blowing in every corner of the state. November 14 (counting day) will tell who was correct.
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