A sharp fall in the number of women voters on Bihar’s electoral rolls has raised concern ahead of the assembly elections due later this year.

According to official data, 22.7 lakh women voters have been deleted from the rolls, a phenomenon likely to influence the upcoming polls.

Bihar has 3.5 crore women voters in total, of which 22.7 lakh names were removed. In comparison, out of 3.92 crore male voters, only 15.5 lakh names were deleted. This has created a gender gap in deletions, with women disproportionately affected despite men being higher in number, reported The Tribune.

The development comes at a politically sensitive time, as the ruling BJP-JDU alliance has placed women’s welfare at the core of its election agenda.

On October 3, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred Rs 10,000 each to 25 lakh women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana. The scheme, announced on August 29 and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26, aims to cover one crore women beneficiaries.

District-wise data shows Gopalganj recorded the highest fall in women voters, with a 15.1% decline—1.5 lakh deletions from its rolls. It was followed by Madhubani, which saw 1.3 lakh women voters’ names removed, and Purvi Champaran, where 1.1 lakh deletions amounted to 6.7%. Saran and Bhagalpur also reported a decline of around one lakh women voters each.

The six districts with the highest voter deletions—Gopalganj, Madhubani, Purvi Champaran, Saran, Bhagalpur and Patna—together account for 59 Assembly constituencies.

In the 2020 Bihar elections, the opposition Mahagathbandhan won 25 of these seats, while the NDA secured 34.

With the Election Commission of India scheduled to visit Patna on October 4 and 5 to review poll preparedness, the formal announcement of elections is expected soon.