Bihar's Centenarian Voters: A Shrinking Demographic

The state of Bihar is witnessing a demographic shift in its voter base, particularly among centenarian voters, according to recent data from the Election Commission. More than 14,000 voters are over 100 years old, but the overall number of 'very senior citizens' has seen a sharp decline after a scrutiny exercise.

This trend emerged following the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. Voters aged 85 and above diminished significantly from 16,07,527 on January 1 to 4,03,985 post-revision. Meanwhile, a drop in female and male voters was also noted, with numbers falling from 3.72 crore to 3.49 crore, and 4.07 crore to 3.92 crore, respectively.

As Bihar prepares for its two-phase assembly elections on November 6 and 11, the voter rolls had undergone major overhauls. From an initial 7.89 crore voters, 65 lakh names were shortlisted, leading to a draft of 7.24 crore electors by August 1. Further corrections removed 3.66 lakh ineligible voters and added 21.53 lakh new applications, raising the final tally to 7.43 crore electors.

(With inputs from agencies.)