The Vote Didis

Despite the challenges of patriarchy and low representation in party nominations, women have consistently outvoted men in recent elections in Bihar

- Ashwani Kumar

THE first phase of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections recorded an unprecedented voter turnout of 64.66 per cent across 121 constituencies—the highest in the state’s history—stunning analysts who had anticipated signs of “voter fatigue”. The previous record of 62.57 per cent was set during the 2000 Assembly elections, while for the Lok Sabha, Bihar had registered a maximum turnout of 64.6 per cent in 1998. Districts such as Muzaffarpur (70.96 per cent), Samastipur (70.63 per cent), Saharsa (66.84 per cent) and Khagaria (66.36 per cent) reflected exceptional participation in the first phase. Patna, typically lagging, also reached 57.93 per cent, bolstered by the administration’s voter outreach campaign, Mission 60 percent.

Indeed, this extraordinary turnout carries a striking political message for both the incumbent and the challengers, but more profoundly, it signifies a genderfeminist surge in Bihar's democratic landscape. The state has around 3.50 crore women voters out of a total electorate of 7.43 crore. Despite the challenges of patriarchy and low representation in party nominations, women have consistently outvoted men in recent elections.

In 2020, female turnout stood at 59.7 per cent compared to 54.6 per cent for men, while in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it was 59.4 per cent versus 53.28 per cent. These figures confirm that women are the single most decisive voting bloc in Bihar.

Some may legitimately attribute the surge in participation in the first phase of 2025 to rising voter awareness around issues of rozgar (employment) and palayan (migration).