Women voters outshone men in 17 of I8 distts in Ist phase, say officials

The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, held on November 6, witnessed a striking electoral shift — women voters outnumbered men at polling booths across several districts, according to election officials from the state poll body.

- Ruchir Kumar

Officials said the women’s turnout in the first phase stood at 69.04%, compared to 61.56% for ‘men. Women’s voter turnout surpassed men’s in 17 of the 18 districts that went to the polls for 121 of the 243 assembly constituencies. “Samastipur (77.42%), Madhepura (77.04%) and Muzaffarpur (76.57%) led the pack in female turnout, followed by Saharsa and Gopalganj, both crossing 75%, officials said. Urban and semi-urban districts like Patna (57.8%) — only district to record a higher turnout of males than females — and Nalanda (60.93%) recorded comparatively lower