Women outnumber men in voting in Bihar

Bihar elections are at its swing at the moment. The most prominent parties BJP- led NDA and Nitish Kumar led grand alliance have pitched their campaigns aggressively in front of the state and now they are eagerly waiting for the result of their hard work. In all this commotion, one aspect has stood out and that is, on the first day of voting, more women than men turned up at the voting polls.

The total public turnout at the polling booths was around 57%. In this, 59.5 women emerged to vote compared to a slightly lesser 54.5 men. The idea of women of Bihar being very caste-neutral has been widely propagated by the candidates in the election. The Nitish led government has an advantage over the women voters as his party has churned out many initiatives keeping women in mind. However the BJP government, enjoying its golden period, has also promised schemes largely in favour of women.

The HRD minister called this a positive trend. Smriti Irani also came forward and made many claims favouring the BJP-fulfilled-schemes for women in Bihar.

“Recollecting PM Modi’s appeal to the people, to make basic toilet facilities available for girls in every government run school, Smriti Irani said that for the first time in the country’s history, this dream has been realised by the Central government,” reports Niti Central.

Women went in hordes from early in the morning to make their votes count. The oldest woman to vote is Maharani Devi, 108, from Teghra Constituency in Begusarai who came despite her body conditions and old age.

Both the contenders have rigorously aimed their campaigns largely on women empowerment and development. Bihar being one of the most underdeveloped states needs the kind of up and coming surge to inspire and encourage its women. The large number of women voters also indicates the fact that women are getting their voices back and are very opinionated when it comes to state and national politics.

Picture Credit- Zee News