Bihar Election Results: How Did Women Candidates Fare?

Here’s a quick look at how some prominent women candidates fared in the elections.

Left to Right: Bihar election candidates Shreyasi Singh, Subhashini Yadav and Manju Yadav.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Even as Bihar is witnessing a steady increase in the number of women who cast their ballot, the number of women candidates has dropped in 2020 Assembly elections.

Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United or JD(U) fielded 22 women while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gave tickets to 12 women candidates from the 110 seats they were fighting for.

On the other side, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) gave tickets to 16 women, while the Congress fielded seven and the Left had just one female candidate. In 2015, a total of 273 women candidates were fielded by various parties.

Here’s a quick look at how some prominent women candidates performed in the elections.

Pushpam Priya Chaudhary

Pushpam Priya Chaudhary, who recently launched her own outfit 'Plurals Party', contested from two seats - Bisfi and Bankipur - and lost in both. She is also the daughter of former JD (U) MLA Vinod Chaudhary.

Shreyasi Singh

Arjuna Awardee and Commonwealth Games gold medallist in shooting, Shreyasi Singh, contested on a BJP ticket from Jamui constituency. Singh, who made her debut as BJP candidate from Jamui defeated sitting RJD MLA Vijay Prakash by more than 40,000 votes.

Singh is also the daughter for former JD (U) leader Digvijay Singh.

Subhashini Yadav

Veteran socialist leader Sharad Yadav's daughter Subhashini Yadav, contested from the Bihariganj seat in Madhepura district, on Congress ticket. Yadav lost to JD(U)’s Niranjan Kumar Mehta in Bihariganj seat by a margin of 18,711.

Manju Verma

Former minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, Manju Verma's candidature from Cheria Bariyarpur on a JD(U) ticket raised eyebrows.

Verma lost to RJD’s Raj Vanshi Mahto by more than 40,000 votes.

The ex-minister had to resign in 2018 over allegations in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual abuse case, after her husband Brajesh Thakur was named prime accused in the case.

Dr Asma Parveen

Asma Parveen contested from the Mahua seat on a JD(U) ticket.

Parveen lost to RJD's Mukesh Kumar by a margin of 13,687 votes.

Daughter of noted RJD leader Ilyas Hussain, Parveen gained appreciation for her relief work during the annual flooding in Bihar.