Paradoxical as it may sound, women appear to be dying at a faster rate than men in Bihar – at least if the Election Commission of India is to be believed. This defies state records, which peg deaths among women being lower than men.

During just one month of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, the names of 65.7 lakh electors were struck off the list. Of these, 36.59 lakh were women and 29.3 lakh were men – meaning 7.6 lakh more women than men were deleted. The EC carried out deletions on four grounds: relocation, death, failure to fill enumeration forms, and duplicate entries.

Among women, the largest number of deletions were attributed to relocation (16.09 lakh), followed by death (11.6 lakh), failure to fill enumeration forms (5.2 lakh), and duplicate entries (3.7 lakh). By comparison, only 10 lakh male voters were deleted on account of death. Deletions among men were lower in every category: 10.6 lakh due to death, 10.4 lakh due to deletion, 4.4 lakh for failure to fill forms, and 3.5 lakh due to duplicate entries.

As per the annual register of births and deaths in Bihar, men account for nearly 60 percent of deaths in the state between 2018 and 2022, the latest year for which data is publicly available.

The deletions in various categories for men and women voters.

The deletions are also significant because women have proven to be decisive voters in past elections. Even though fewer women are registered as voters compared to men, their turnout has consistently outnumbered men’s over the last three elections. From 42.51 percent in 2005, women’s turnout rose to 59.7 percent in 2020, while male turnout rose from 49.9 to 54.45 percent during the same period.

Importantly, the gender ratio of women voters – which had been on an upward trend for two years, rising from 909 women per 1,000 men in 2024 to 913 in the rolls published in January 2025 – has now dropped to its lowest point: 892.

The Supreme Court, in a recent decision, directed the Election Commission to include Aadhaar as a requirement for voter inclusion. The final list of voters in Bihar will be published on September 30. However, if the current trend continues, the deletions could have a direct impact on women’s turnout – especially since the number of women voters in Bihar is now at its lowest in five years after the SIR. 

Compared to the 2020 assembly elections, the state has 7 lakh fewer women voters, while male voters have declined by only 5 lakh.

Bihar’s focus on women

The rise in women’s participation in Bihar’s politics has run parallel to Nitish Kumar’s efforts to cultivate them as a key constituency. In 2006, Bihar became the first state to reserve 50 percent of panchayat seats for women, followed by a 35 percent reservation in government jobs. In 2016, responding to demands from women’s groups, Kumar enforced prohibition, making Bihar a dry state.

In the 2020 elections, both the BJP and JD(U) made special provisions for women’s welfare in their manifestos. For instance, the JD(U) promised a Rs 5 lakh grant and an interest-free loan to women for starting new ventures. By contrast, Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, the main opposition party, failed to highlight women in its manifesto.

That gender focus seemed to have helped Kumar. A CSDS post-poll survey showed the NDA gained a gender advantage, with 2 percent more women than men voting for the alliance. The NDA’s support was strongest among OBC women – 63 percent voted for the alliance compared to just 18 percent for the Mahagathbandhan. Similar leads were seen among Dalit and upper-caste women.

This time too, Kumar has placed women at the centre of his campaign. He has announced the Mukhiya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, under which one woman from every household – provided neither she nor her husband is an income-tax payer – will receive Rs 10,000 to start a business of her choice. If the venture proves profitable within six months, the state will add up to Rs 2 lakh as capital.

For now, there is no clear trend linking higher female voter deletions to constituencies won by either the NDA or the Opposition. However, two constituencies stand out as the worst affected by the SIR: Kochadhaman and Amour. In both, the gender ratio of registered voters has fallen to a five-year low – 858 and 856 women per 1,000 men, respectively. Notably, both are Muslim-majority seats that were won by the AIMIM in the last assembly elections.

Women voters deleted on account of death were in the majority in 187 of the state’s 243 assembly constituencies. In five of them, women accounted for 60–65 percent of the total deletions due to death. In Baniapur, nearly twice as many women (6,677) as men (3,606) were struck off the rolls. Other constituencies where women made up 60 percent of deletions due to death were Rajpur, Mohania, Ekma, and Nokha.

Percentage of deletions due to death among women voters in various districts.

This pattern was visible at the district level as well, with women accounting for about 60 percent of deletions due to death in Buxar, Kaimur, and Madhepura.

Vishal Vaibhav is a former assistant professor at the IIT-Delhi department of physics.

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