Mao Zedong once said: " Women hold up half the heavens."-Bihar polls see high women voter turnout-Lakhisarai (Bihar), October 31, 2010

Ashish Sinha

Mao Zedong once said: " Women hold up half the heavens."-Bihar polls see high women voter turnout-Lakhisarai (Bihar), October 31, 2010


Lakhisarai (Bihar), October 31, 2010

Updated 09:40 IST




Mao Zedong once said: " Women hold up half the heavens." This famous statement appears to be exemplified in Lakhisarai - which hit the headlines when the Maoists killed policeman Lucas Tete and held three other personnel hostage for nine days - and beyond, this elections.


Women voters in Bihar

A different social revolution has triumphed in the fertile plains nestled between rivers Harohar and Kiul and other parts of Bihar and if the ' Red' guns are blazing, they aren't heard beyond the northern hills. This shift cocks a snook at the Maoists' demand for the boycott of elections, and woman power is behind it.

That the voter turnout in Bihar has crossed the 50 per cent mark has a lot to do with women - young as well as old - thronging the polling booths in seemingly endless queues.

With striking improvement in the law and order situation across the state and the effective deployment of security forces the winding village bylanes have turned into a riot of multicoloured saris and salwar- kamiz, the regulation attire in these parts.

" Most women, especially those from respected families, usually stayed home during the elections. Stepping out meant we would attract lewd comments from men, who backed candidates from their respective castes.

However, there is no fear now. The police will take good care of the troublemakers," said Urmila Prasad, a resident of Balgudar village near Lakhisarai.

For long in rural Bihar, men took political decisions even on behalf of the womenfolk.

Their participation in the electoral process, even when they came out in small numbers, was dictated by men, for whom the world did not exist beyond the realm of caste. But that is not the situation anymore.

" I have kept my voter card ready for the big day. We do not enter into any argument with men. We listen to them but we also know who to vote for. The candidate I will support is not from my caste. I am voting for him because he is the best of the lot," said Shivani Sharma, who also works as an Asha gram sewika in Suryagarha.

In these elections, women of Bihar have increasingly turned caste- neutral. One big reason is their active participation in panchayats with the Nitish Kumar government setting aside 50 per cent of the seats for women. Four years into operation, the new system has paid dividends with women pole- vaulting to decision- making roles.

Women are now shining bright as a caste- neutral social group across the state.

The government schemes to provide money for bicycles and uniforms to schoolgirls have also helped.

Pushpa, a 17- year- old from a village near Lakhisarai, said she felt confident cycling to school with friends. " All girls look the same in uniform. No one can show off expensive dresses. It is just not allowed," she said.

Pushpa would turn a voter next year. " The chief minister is smart. He knows that girls who got the bicycles will support him," said Pushpa's father.

" Pushpa and her mother do not listen to me beyond a point now. The story is the same in most families. I do not mind because mother- daughter relationships are always special," he added.

The confidence among these women appears to dwarf Mao's " half the heavens" assessment. What's more, men, too, are getting influenced by the women's logic that schools, hospitals and roads are more important than caste pride. In that sense, these are a make- orbreak elections for Bihar.