Bihar SIR: Voter rolls shrink sharply in 2025, women disproportionately affected

Bihar’s electoral rolls saw a significant contraction in 2025, with the state losing over 3.8 million voters between January 1 and September 30. The number of voters increased from 78 million at the start of the year — when the Special Summary Review (SSR) lists were released — to 74.1 million by the time the Special Intensive Review (SIR) was finalized.

The decline has not been uniform across genders. The number of male voters fell from 40.7 million in January to 39.2 million in September, a decline of 3.8%. The drop in female voters was greater: from 37.2 million to 34.9 million, a drop of 6.1%. In absolute numbers, 1.55 million men were delisted, compared to 2.27 million women, meaning that almost 60% of all delistings during the SIR process were women, the Hindustan Times reported.

This gender imbalance is evident in several large districts.

Muzaffarpur: The number of voters fell from 3.41 million to 3.29 million, a decrease of more than 122,000. Male voters fell by 3.4% and female voters by 3.9%.

Madhubani: The number of rolls fell from 3.33 million to 3.1 million, a loss of 227,000 people. Female voters saw a drop of 8.2%, while male voters fell by 5.5%.

Patnathe state’s largest constituency in terms of electorate, fell from 5 million to 4.81 million. Men fell by 3.5%, women by 4.1%.

Samastipur: Rolls contracted from 3.08 million to 2.92 million. Female registrations decreased by 6.7%, those of men by 3.8%.

In certain neighborhoods, the disparity is even more pronounced:

Gopalganj: The total number of voters fell by 11.3%, from 2.03 million to 1.8 million. Female voters declined by almost 15%, while male voters declined by 7.8%.

Kishanganj: Lost more than 10,000 voters; women decreased by 11.9%, men by 5.5%.

Supaul: The electoral base increased from 1.62 million to 1.53 million. The number of women decreased by 7%, that of men by 3.6%.