- The final Bihar electoral roll shows a drop of 38 lakh voters from 7.8 to 7.4 crore
- Women voters decreased by 6.1%, losing 22.7 lakh, sharper than the 3.8% male decline
- Gopalganj reported the highest women voter deletion at 15.1%, losing 1.5 lakh voters
The Election Commission of India (ECI) released the final electoral roll for Bihar after completing the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise ahead of polls in the state. The ECI data shows a significant drop in the number of voters - the total electorate decreased by approximately 38 lakh from 7.8 crore on January 1, 2025 to 7.4 crore in the final rolls.
The impact on women voters is especially notable.
Male voters decreased by 3.8 per cent (15.5 lakh), while women voters faced a sharper decline of 6.1 per cent (22.7 lakh). The gender gap in deletions could have important political consequences since women voters are key to both major alliances in Bihar.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which provided Rs 10,000 each to 75 lakh women to support self-employment.
District-Wise Trends
Gopalganj reported the highest deletion of women voters, with a drop of 15.1 per cent or 1.5 lakh - from 10.3 lakh in January to 8.3 lakh in the final rolls.
Madhubani had the second-highest decline, losing 1.3 lakh women voters, while Purvi Champaran saw a decline of 6.7 per cent or 1.1 lakh voters,
Saran and Bhagalpur each recorded significant losses of about 1 lakh women voters.
Interestingly, all five districts border either a neighboring state or a country - Gopalganj and Saran with Uttar Pradesh, Madhubani and Purvi Champaran with Nepal, and Bhagalpur with Jharkhand.
Male voters also experienced substantial deletions, although less than women.
Madhubani led with the removal of 95,000 male voters (from 17.4 lakh to 16.4 lakh). Patna followed closely with a decrease of 90,000 (from 26.3 lakh to 25.4 lakh). Other districts with high deletions included Saran (86,000), Purvi Champaran (85,000), and Gopalganj (80,000).
Electoral Significance
Most of the voters of either gender were deleted from six districts - Gopalganj, Madhubani, Purvi Champaran, Saran, Bhagalpur, and Patna. Together, these constituencies hold 59 assembly seats.
In the 2020 Bihar assembly election, the Mahagathbandhan (MGB) or Grand Alliance won 25 of these seats, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) took 34.
According to a post-poll survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), voting behavior of men and women in 2020 was similar. At least 38 per cent of women voted for the NDA, while 37 per cent supported the MGB. Among men, 36 per cent backed the NDA and 38 per cent voted for the MGB.
The contest was close, with the NDA leading the MGB by just 11,150 votes.
Given the narrow margin in the previous election, the large-scale deletions especially among women voters could be crucial in the upcoming polls.
