Women Voters Bedrock of Nitish Kumar’s Historic Win
As Nitish Kumar prepares to form his next government, the real architecture of his victory is laid not in grand speeches or alliance maneuvers, but in the long, steady cultivation of women as a political force. The 2025 assembly poll was, in many ways, a gender payback moment. Women turned out, voted, and delivered for the man who long championed their cause.
In doing so, they reaffirmed that in Bihar’s politics, the “debt” Nitish owed was not a liability but an investment and now, thanks to them, it has been repaid in full. If a political leader consistently invests in women, not symbolically but structurally, women respond with extraordinary loyalty.
Nitish’s win is not simply the victory of a coalition. It is the victory of a strategy, one that prioritised gender over caste, inclusion over identity, stability over rhetoric.
The lesson is profound that in modern Indian politics, women are no longer a passive constituency. They are the most reliable architects of power. Nitish Kumar owes his 2025 victory not to alliance arithmetic, not to political maneuvering, but to the silent, disciplined, determined assertion of women.
They paid back his debt and in doing so, they reshaped the electoral landscape of Bihar. When the results came in, the pattern was crystal clear. Constituencies where women voted in large numbers tilted heavily toward the NDA. Booth-level data showed a dramatic skew, where women outnumbered men, the NDA’s vote share spiked.
Younger women, the first-time voters, embraced Nitish’s governance record more enthusiastically than any other demographic. The verdict is not just a political endorsement. It is a settlement of accounts. Women returned the favour to Nitish Kumar not with slogans, not with rallies, but with the most potent democratic instrument that is their vote.
Nitish’s governance playbook has long centered around women-focused welfare. His administration has steadily layered policies that speak to the daily lives of women not just as voters, but as family anchors, economic units, and social agents. A few pillars of this strategy are:
Prohibition (Liquor Ban): Since 2016, Bihar has enforced a statewide liquor ban, a move that Nitish has often framed as a women-centric reform. Many women, particularly in rural areas, credit the ban with reducing domestic violence and curbing household alcohol expenditure.
Economic Empowerment: The Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana has been a linchpin. In advance of elections, the government disbursed ₹10,000 directly into the accounts of over a crore women, enabling micro-enterprise or self-employment. The promise of further capital support (up to ₹2 lakh) for business ideas that scale only deepened the appeal.
Political Inclusion: Over the years, Nitish’s government instituted 50% reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies, and 35% reservation for women in state jobs.
Education and Social Welfare: From free bicycles for schoolgirls, uniforms, scholarships, to the expansive Jeevika self-help group network, Nitish’s policies have intertwined with women’s everyday lives in Bihar.
This was not transactional campaigning, a social contract, crafted over years. Nitish addressed their woes, women were rewarded; in return, they showed up, again and again.
One of the most consequential miscalculations came from Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, which made repealing prohibition a central plank of its campaign. While this might have appealed to voters frustrated by illicit liquor markets or revenue shortfalls, it did not go down well with a large swath of women.
Critically, Kishor’s promise to lift the ban arguably alienated the demographic that had long been the NDA’s bedrock, the women voters who saw prohibition not as a burden but as protection. The opposition underestimated not just the political salience of the ban, but the depth of its emotional resonance among women, especially in rural areas.
In that sense, the NDA’s gamble paid off, women did not look beyond Nitish when choosing whom to trust. The ₹10,000 transfers played a symbolic and strategic role. For a substantial portion of women, this cash was not just income; it was empowerment, a political acknowledgement, and a tangible expression of value.
By aligning financial incentives, social reform, and political inclusion, Nitish and his allies managed to convert what might have been a demographic asset into an electoral juggernaut. The 2025 Bihar election offers broader lessons beyond state politics.
First, Gender-based politics can outlast caste-based alignments. Nitish’s investment in women has proven more stable, more reliable, and more durable than many traditional caste coalitions.
Second, welfare isn’t just charity. When welfare programs are woven into a coherent political narrative, they become a means of empowerment — and a source of political capital.
Lastly, policy wins need not be headline-grabbing. Prohibition might not be glamorous, but its social impact can translate into electoral gold when understood and framed as part of a moral and social reform.
(Sidharth Mishra is an author, academic and president of the Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice)
