New Delhi, (Samajweekly) First-time voters are more leaning towards the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) while those above 55 years of age and have presumably seen the era of Lalu Prasad’s reign, are leaning more towards the NDA, says the demographic analysis of the IANS-CVoter Bihar Exit Poll. If this holds true, the BJP-JDU’s ‘jungle raj’ narrative has failed to convince a large number of first-time voters between the ages of 18-22.
Among the age bracket of 18-22, 40.7 per cent seem to have voted for MGB, while 38.5 per cent for NDA and even 20.9 per cent choosing to vote for ‘others’ like LJP and independents. Interestingly, among the age bracket of 55 years and above, 33.3 per cent are likely to have voted for Tejashwi Yadav-led MGB, while a significant 40.2 per cent chose NDA and 26.5 per cent of them chose others.
While male voters are equally split with 37.9 per cent choosing MGB and 37.2 NDA, when it comes to women voters, there’s a gap of almost 3 per cent as 35.3 per cent women seem to have voted for MGB while 38 per cent for NDA.
Among the illiterates, there is a slight edge of Mahagathbandhan while among the professionals, NDA has a clear edge. 36.9 per cent of illiterates voted for Mahagathbandhan and 33.2 per cent of them for NDA, according to the IANS-CVoter Bihar Exit Poll. However, when it comes to professionals, just 32.8 per cent chose Mahagathbandhan candidates while 38.8 per cent of them chose NDA candidates.
There is a clear demarcation though, when it comes to education of voters which seems to suggest that the more one is educated, the more one is inclined to vote for NDA. Mahagathbandhan has a slight edge among illiterates and those with non-formal education, which changes the moment the voters are educated, at least up to primary level. Though among those with up to high school education are equally split between the two with 36.5 per cent votes, the difference starts to rise in favor of NDA, when the voters are found to have higher secondary education and above.
Among those without a job, or who are students Mahagathbandhan has an edge of 1.6 per cent. But when it comes to housewives, NDA has a stark edge of 6 per cent. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s pro-women image and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental projects including loans for small businesses which seem to have benefitted many women in the state may have played a role in that.
Farmers and landless agricultural labourers are almost equally split among Mahagathbandhan and NDA with just 0.2 per cent and 0.4% edge for Mahagathbandhan, respectively. The Centre’s massive push for the fishery sector and Union minister for the concerned department Giriraj Singh being from the state, seem to have had its impact with those who practice fishery as a profession, inclined more towards the NDA. Even government employees also lean towards the NDA, however slight the edge may be, according to the exit poll.
Those among the private sector significantly tilt towards the NDA with 36 per cent favouring Mahagathbandhan and 41.4 per cent favouring NDA. Surprisingly though, the Mahagathbandhan scores better among the business community. Among the general labour class, NDA is nowhere near Mahagathbandhan as 41.1 per cent of them favour Mahagathbandhan while 32.4 per cent favour NDA.
The 3-phase Bihar election ended on Saturday. The results will be declared on November 10. Neither Mahagathbandhan nor NDA are tipped to get a sweep.
