6 months ago
2
Two posters archer the communicative of Bihar’s 2025 elections for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his party, the Janata Dal (United). The archetypal — “25 se 30, phir se Nitish (From 2025 to 2030, it is Nitish’s authorities again)” — appeared successful May, agelong earlier the run gathered steam. The 2nd — “Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai (Tiger is inactive alive)” — was erected a time earlier the results were declared.
Also work | Women’s vote, governance grounds and confederation cohesion thrust NDA victory
The archetypal 1 was an assertion arsenic good arsenic a reflection of the JD(U)’s anxiety. There were reports of Mr. Kumar’s declining intelligence acuity. There was besides speculation that helium volition beryllium replaced, with the BJP promoting its nominee instead. The poster with Mr. Kumar, successful a bluish Nehru jacket, placed against a yellowish inheritance with the slogan inscribed successful black, was to underline Mr. Kumar arsenic the undisputed Chief Minister. However, Mr. Kumar’s medication needed a small much than conscionable rhetoric.
It was astir this clip that the seeds for the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana were sown. In his archetypal term, Mr. Kumar began a web of women self-help groups nether the World Bank-aided Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), locally known arsenic Jeevika. This web has seen Mr. Kumar done assorted ups and downs.
His medication decided to pat into this web erstwhile again. A one-time ₹10,000 fiscal assistance was extended to 1.21 crore beneficiaries associated with Jeevika. It outgo ₹12,100 crore, which is astir 4% of Bihar’s yearly budget.
Careful consolidation of women voters
The medication looked astatine assorted schemes extending fiscal assistance to women, including Maharashtra’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, a monthly payout strategy which is straining the State’s finances. It was a deliberate decision, according to apical JD(U) leaders, to opt for extending an one-time fiscal assistance alternatively of monthly payouts.
The strategy was rolled retired connected September 26 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the predetermination docket was announced by the Election Commission of India (EC) connected October 6.
The gamble paid off. The strategy consolidated women voters crossed caste lines, delivering anticipated dividends for the JD(U) and the NDA. The JD(U) was the lone enactment to study a important emergence successful ballot stock — from 15.39% successful 2020 to 19.03%. The BJP’s stock roseate lone marginally, from 19.46% to 20.42%. This marks Mr. Kumar’s second-best show aft 2010, erstwhile the JD(U) won 115 of 141 seats contested. As per the provisional elector turnout information released by the EC, 2.51 crore women voted successful this election.
The array beneath shows the fig of seats/districts with assorted shares of women voters successful the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections.
(Scroll close to spot the afloat table)
Women-centric schemes
“It would beryllium simplistic to recognition the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana unsocial for the JD(U)’s performance. People voted for Nitish Kumar’s experience, cleanable image, bully governance, instrumentality and order, and progress,” said JD(U) nationalist spokesperson K.C. Tyagi. Mr. Tyagi pointed retired assorted women-centric schemes of the Nitish Kumar government. “Kumar has had a generational transportation with women. In 2006, helium archetypal gave preservation to women representatives successful panchayat and municipal bodies; successful 2007, helium gave 35% preservation to women successful the Bihar Police. His authorities pays for stationary and uniforms for miss children. The determination to enforce prohibition besides came straight from the women,” helium added.
On October 12, six days aft the predetermination docket was announced, the NDA finalised its seat-sharing formula. For the archetypal clip since Mr. Kumar aligned with the BJP successful the mid-1990s, some parties contested an adjacent fig of seats — 101 each.
From past on, the communicative shifted. Reports emerged of Mr. Kumar reprimanding adjacent aides for undermining enactment interests, immoderate of which played retired publically astatine rallies. He besides pressured the BJP to marque the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) instrumentality 4 to 5 seats allocated to it but claimed by the JD(U) — signalling that Mr. Kumar was inactive firmly successful control.
A time earlier the results, the JD(U)’s Patna bureau unveiled the poster speechmaking “Tiger Abhi Zinda Hai.” Sponsored by a enactment leader, it carried the clutter emblematic of predetermination posters — inactive its assertion was vindicated.
