Bihar assembly polls: Women representation dismal in parties’ candidate lists

The highest representation of women in the Bihar assembly in the last seven decades was witnessed in 2010 when 34 women (14%) had won in a landslide victory for the NDA government.

Women constitute a significant chunk of the voter base in Bihar and in the run up to the 2025 assembly elections, all parties have offered sops and promises to woo them. However, not many political parties have shown the same confidence during ticket distribution.

An artist paints a voter awareness mural in Patna, Bihar. (ANI)

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is contesting the highest number of seats in the 2025 election, has fielded the most number of women with 24 tickets (16.78%). The Congress has fielded five women (8.61 %) out of the 61 candidates it has given symbols to.

The Janata Dal (U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have given tickets to 13 (12.87%) women, each, out of the 101 seats each of them are contesting. LJP-R has given tickets to six women, though one faces disqualification due to discrepancies in the documents and the party has gone into appeal.

Overall, the NDA has fielded 35 women (14.40%) in the 243-member Assembly, while the INDIA bloc has fielded 32 (13.16%). Both the alliances are way short of the 33% quota requirement for women.

On September 8, 2017, Bihar assembly witnessed an unusual scene after women cutting across party lines stood up for their rights, demanding 50% quota in the legislature and Parliament. But eight years later, they are still far from it.

Women make up 47.86% (Census 2011) of the population in Bihar, but their voting percentage has been significantly higher than men in the last three elections, which is why they are seen as a major base for all political parties.

In the 2020 assembly elections, too, women voters outnumbered men by over 5% and it further increased to around 6.5% in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Bihar. While the voting percentage of men was 54.68% in 2020, it was 59.69% for women. The average voter turnout in Bihar for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was 56.28%, with men’s participation at 53% and women’s turnout at 59.45%.

Even before the launch of the Mahila Rozgaar Yojana, under which 1.4 crore women are estimated to have got ₹10,000 each, hike in elderly pension and incentives to Jeevika volunteers, Bihar chief minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar had increased the ₹10,000 incentive to ₹25,000 after passing matriculation. Similarly, the ₹25,000 motivation fund on completion of graduation was increased to ₹50,000; 50% reservation was also given to women in panchayati raj institutions and educational institutions and 35% quota in the government jobs. The RJD has also come up with ‘Mai Bahin Yojana’ to offer ₹2500 monthly to every woman.

“Women have been in the forefront of Nitish government’s policies from the very outset and they are already in the mainstream of grassroots governance in a big way and before too long they will graduate to the next level for higher representation they deserve. And only he will do it,” Bihar minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said.

The current assembly has 10.70% women members. Following the 2020 elections, 26 women legislators had got elected out of 243, which was lower than 28 women (11%) in 2015.

The highest representation of women in the Bihar assembly in the last seven decades was witnessed in 2010 when 34 women (14%) had won in a landslide victory for the NDA government.

“The year 2010 had witnessed 307 women in the election fray and it has kept on increasing, showing their desire to contest for Vidhan Sabha, but the mainstream parties have not shown the inclination to field them, not even the BJP which has been vocal about 33% quota for women and the Nari Shakti Vandan Act. In fact, all the parties develop cold feet as winnability becomes the ultimate factor and as a result seats for women turn out to be more symbolic, with the kin of influential or tainted politicians getting the favour,” said social analyst NK Choudhary.