Women outdo male voters in the third phase of Bihar elections

By ​Sanjay Singh


CHHAPRA: Female voters outnumbered males again in the third phase of elections to 50 assembly seats in Saran, Vaishali, Patna, Nalanda, Bhojpur and Buxar districts. Initial estimates put the polling figure at 53.32%, an increase in 3 percentage points compared to 2010.

54% women and 52.5% male voters cast their votes though the number of female voters (67,06,687) was less than male registered voters (78,51,593). The average polling was 55.6% in the first two phases. Patna district, with 14 assembly constituencies recorded 51.82%. Vaishali’s Raghopur and Mahua assembly seats from where RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s sons Tejashwi and Tejpratap are candidates recorded 57% and 55%, polling respectively. Most of the 50 constituencies showed a different voting pattern from last time, leaving parties and analysts guessing about the trend.

Initial reports suggested that Extremely Backward Castes in several constituencies turned up in big numbers. While that may not be good news for the NDA, the Grand Alliance had reasons to worry about division in the Yadav support base.

In some constituencies, Yadav and Kurmi castes are reported to have opted for tactical voting depending upon the availability of candidates of respective castes but the Muslim-Yadav equation seemed intact in a major part of the region in the third phase.

ET found a long queue of female voters in the villages located in the Gangetic belt of Vaishali and Saran. “Anganwadi Sewikas played a major role in creating consciousness among women to participate in voting. You can’t predict the voting pattern among female voters,” said Naresh Kumar.