Will women voters back Nitish Kumar once again?

Identifying that the women have increasingly become the agent of change in Bihar, Kumar, since being sworn into power in 2005 has launched several schemes aimed at the welfare of girls as well as women. Will he get the same backing again in the upcoming elections, remains to be seen.

Patna: With the Bihar assembly elections fast approaching, political parties in the state have started tug-of-war to gather the maximum number of voters.

Not leaving any stone unturned and targetting to hook the women voters of Bihar again, the incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has turned his attention towards them.

Identifying that the women have increasingly become the agent of change in Bihar, Kumar since being sworn into power in 2005 has launched several schemes aimed at the welfare of girls as well as women.

From the Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojna, Balika Poshak Yojana to a reservation in panchayats and jobs, the CM has identified and cashed in on the women votes.

The aftermath of the Liquor ban

Since the liquor ban in 2015, Assembly elections will be held in Bihar for the first time and the effects of the rule will be a major deciding factor.

Even though the state being declared a 'dry' one has caused massive losses to the Bihar coffer, Kumar insisted that the ban stays at the behest of women.

"The issue of the prohibition on alcohol is important and this has led to a significant reduction in domestic violence. Nitish Kumar may get the votes of women based on this. However, there's still the issue of bootlegging in villages with the liquor being available in black supply," said DM Diwakar, political expert.

He also added that the vote of women has always been with Nitish Kumar.

Reiterating his point, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, spokesperson, Janata Dal-United (JDU) said, "The main reason for women supporters for Nitish Kumar is the prohibition on alcohol. When alcohol was banned, several diseases, road accidents, and harassment of women also decreased."

However, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s Mritunjay Tiwari said that based on only the liquor ban the Nitish government will not get votes.

He said the alcohol prohibition was faulty and the only reason it was implemented was because of the Grand Alliance.

Increasing number of women voters in Bihar elections:

The turnout of women voters in Bihar has seen an upward spike in the previous years, with 59.92 per cent of women voters exercising their franchise in the five-phase election in 2015 as opposed to 54.07% male voters.

In the elections held from 1952 to 2015, 291 women MLAs have won. This number is around 6 per cent as compared to 4,765 candidates who won in the 2015 assembly elections.

Until now, 28 women candidates had won the elections till now.

Number of women who have reached Vidhan Sabha since 1985 - Number of female MLAs

1985: 15

1990: 13

1995: 12

2000: 16

2005: 23

2010: 37

2015: 28