"Bihar Election 2025 marks a historic gender shift," says BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari

Patna (Bihar) [India], November 12 (ANI) The ongoing Bihar Assembly Election 2025 has emerged as the most gender-inclusive election in India's history, with women voters taking the lead in shaping the political discourse. National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Pradeep Bhandari, said that for the first time since Independence, women have outvoted men by a significant margin across both phases of polling, reflecting a remarkable transformation in Bihar's democratic participation.
According to Election Commission data, female voter turnout in Phase 1 was 7.48% higher than that of men, while in Phase 2, the gap widened further to 9.93%. This surge underscores the growing political awareness and assertiveness among women voters, now recognised as a decisive and independent electoral force in the state.
This change marks a historic shift from Bihar's first Assembly election in 1952, when female turnout lagged 6% behind that of male voters. The turnaround over seven decades highlights how women in Bihar have increasingly embraced electoral participation as a means of empowerment and change.
"Women in Bihar have voted decisively. Phase 1: Female turnout 7.48% higher than male turnout. Phase 2: Female turnout 9.93% higher than male turnout. Compare this to Bihar's first Assembly election (1952) -- when female turnout was lower than male turnout by 6%. The transformation is historic. The "M Factor", Mahila Factor, believing in development and governance (Sushasan) has emerged as the real swing factor. Political pundits must stop viewing Bihar's polity only through the lens of caste. The new political grammar of Bihar is gender plus governance. Since 2014, under PM Narendra Modi, pro-incumbency for good governance has become a new habit in Indian democracy, a trend unseen before," Bhandari said in a post on X.
Bihar 2025 appears to further this national trend, where gender and governance are working together to redefine the state's political grammar, moving beyond the conventional caste equations that once dominated its politics. (ANI)