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The record-high turnout of women voters in the Bihar Assembly polls will be the “real swing factor” in favour of the NDA government’s development and good governance, asserted the BJP on Wednesday.

“Since 2014, under PM Narendra Modi, pro-incumbency for good governance has become a new habit in Indian democracy – a trend unseen before,” the party said.

Sharing provisional data on Tuesday, the Election Commission said Bihar registered an overall voter turnout of 66.91 per cent, its highest since the first state polls in 1951. It was also marked by the highest female voter turnout in its history, with women’s turnout in the first phase of voting on November 6 being 69.04 per cent as compared with 61.56 per cent men.

In the second and final phase of polling held on Tuesday, the women voters again turned out in larger numbers at 74.03 per cent against a male voter turnout of 64.1 per cent, the poll panel said.

 

Also Read: Bihar records highest-ever voter turnout in final phase

Commenting on the voter data, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said the ‘M Factor’ in the Bihar elections stood for the ‘Mahila (women) Factor’ that “believes in development and sushasan (good governance)” and “has emerged as the real swing factor”.

“Political pundits must stop viewing Bihar’s polity only through the lens of caste,” he said, adding that the “new political grammar” of the state is “gender + governance”.

In a post on X, Bhandari wrote: “The overall male-female ratio stood at 71.6 for women against 62.8 for men. Female turnout 7.48 per cent higher than male turnout. Phase 2: Female turnout 9.93 per cent higher than male turnout.” 

“Compare this to Bihar’s first Assembly election (1952) – when female turnout was lower than male turnout by 6 per cent. The transformation is historic,” he added. 

As the two-phase polling in Bihar concluded on Tuesday evening, exit polls predicted a big victory for the NDA, with the Mahagathbandhan a distant second. They also predicted a disappointing show by Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj in its debut outing, forecasting a range of 0-5 seats for it in the 243-member Assembly.

The vote count will be on November 14, 2025.