Bihar Election: Women's Rising Vote Share: From 32% in 1962 to Over 71% in 2025

Bihar Election: The Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 have created history. Such a surge has never been seen before in the voting data of the seven decades since 1951. This time, a total of 66.91% voting took place in the state, which is the biggest record since independence. But the real reason behind this historic record is the participation of women in voting, who have changed the face of Bihar's politics by increasing their turnout from 32.47% in 1962 to 71.6% in 2025.

Voting Percentage in Different Elections

Everything Changed from the 2010 Elections

The Bihar Assembly Elections 2010 proved to be a decisive turning point in the state's political history. For the first time in this election, the voting percentage of women voters surpassed that of men. In this election, 54.49 percent of women voted, while the male voting percentage was 51.12. This was the moment when the traditional silent vote bank of women voters transformed into an active voting power. The biggest credit for this unprecedented change goes to the policies of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had undertaken several far-reaching initiatives for women's empowerment since coming to power in 2005.

The foundation for this change in Bihar was laid in 2006 when the Chief Minister's Girls' Cycle Scheme was launched. Under this scheme, free bicycles were provided to Class 9 girl students so that they could travel to school without depending on any male member. Along with the cycle scheme, in 2006, 50% reservation for women was implemented in panchayats, which fundamentally altered Bihar's power structure. As a result, it is estimated that 58% of Mukhiyas and Deputy Mukhiyas in Bihar are women today. Additionally, Nitish Kumar also initiated several other schemes for women.

Bihar Election 2025 Data

• The voting percentage in the first phase was 65.08%, while in the second phase, it was 68.76%. The total average voting recorded was 66.91%, which is the highest figure to date. The difference between male and female votes across both phases was approximately 9% (4,233,575 votes).
• Elections were held for 121 seats in 18 districts in the first phase, and for 122 seats in 20 districts in the second phase. In total, 243 seats across 38 districts were included.
• The number of voters for the first phase was 3,75,13,302, and for the second phase, it was 3,70,13,556. The total number of voters was 7,45,26,858.
• Approximately an equal number of polling stations were set up in both phases: 45,341 for the first phase and 45,399 for the second phase, making a total of 90,740 centres.
• Approximately 8.5 lakh employees and 1.8 lakh Jeevika Didis/volunteers were deployed to manage the polling process.
• A total of 2,616 candidates contested in both phases. 1,314 in the first phase and 1,302 in the second phase.