More Women Voted For NDA, First-Time Voters Chose Mahagathbandhan: Axis My India Exit Poll

All exit polls thus far have given a majority to the NDA in the Bihar assembly elections, but the Mahagathbandhan has been favoured by more young voters, according to a new exit poll. The NDA will win 121-140 seats, Axis My India projected, joining the other exit polls to suggest a clear edge to the Nitish Kumar-led alliance. It gave 98-118 seats to the Mahagathbandhan and up to two seats to the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party. The party-wise vote share stood at 43% for the NDA, 41% for the Mahagathbandhan, and 4% for the JSP, according to the exit poll.

Axis My India has also shared voting data suggestive of the caste, age, and gender-wise breakups, suggesting that the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan managed to retain its Muslim-Yadav vote banks and that women voted in large numbers for the NDA. 

Read: Exit Poll Predicts Close Contest In Bihar, 121-145 Seats For NDA

Health warning: Exit polls often go wrong.

Age-Wise Data

More first-time voters favoured the Mahagathbandhan, the exit poll showed, reflective of the youth trust in the Tejashwi Yadav-Rahul Gandhi combine. In the 18-19 group, 46% voted for the Opposition alliance. In the 20-29 age group, they won 44%. The NDA will manage to get just 37% in these age groups, the exit poll projected.

The figures change drastically as the age groups increase. In the 30-39 group, NDA will have a minor edge of 43% over the Mahagathbandhan's 42%. The figure keeps rising for the NDA. For those 70 and above, the figure stands at 51% for the NDA.

Gender-Wise Data

More women voters favoured the NDA while more men voted for the Mahagathbandhan, the Axis exit poll showed. About 45% of the women voted for the NDA, and 40% voted for the Opposition. The figures were opposite for the male voters. Among those who voted, the Mahagathbandhan drew 42% votes while the NDA won 41%.

Women form a major vote bank for Nitish Kumar, the chief ministerial face of the NDA, with his report card flaunting popular women-centric schemes, including financial aid of Rs 10,000 each to 75 lakh women.

Employment-Wise Data

The unemployed (49%) and students (48%) formed the biggest employment-based vote bank for the Mahagathbandhan as against 34% and 33% for the NDA. For the BJP and JDU-led coalition, the highest vote shares came from the self-employed (49%) and housewives (48%) categories as against 36% and 37% for the Mahagathbandhan.

Caste-Wise Breakup

The Mahagathbandhan retained its Muslim-Yadav vote banks where the NDA put up a poor performance, it was projected. However, it failed to achieve a convincing vote share among other subcastes.

In the Yadav grouping, the Mahagathbandhan would bag 90% votes as against the NDA's 6%. Among Muslims, the Mahagathbandhan would win 79% as against the NDA's 6%. In the other caste groups—including the SC, ST, EBC, and OBC—the figures were in favour of the NDA by a considerable margin.

The subcastes, too, including Brahmins, Rajputs, Bhumihars, and General castes, have been projected to be favouring the NDA.