Bihar Polls: 'Game Changer' or Legalised Bribery? How Cash Transfers Violate MCC
Did direct cash transfers to women, in the name of welfare schemes, in India's poorest state do the trick for NDA?
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The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — comprising the BJP, Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Chirag Paswan's LJP(RV) and other parties — has swept the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025.
As the results trickled in on Friday, 14 November, NDA was leading in at least 200 seats in the 243-seat Assembly. The BJP wrested the title of the single-largest party from the RJD, winning 89 seats, while its ally JD(U) clinched 85 seats.
Female voters saw a total (Phase-I and Phase-II) voter turnout of 71.6 percent — the highest ever — while male voters registered a turnout of 62.8 percent. In terms of absolute numbers too, 2,51,64,386 women cast their ballots as compared to 2,47,30,241 men.
In the the 2020 Assembly elections in Bihar, the voter turnout among women voters was registered at 59.69 percent; while for men voter turnout was 54.45 percent. Although, in absolute numbers, female voters were less than male voters.
After the NDA's edge became evident on Friday evening, BJP leader Amit Shah in a post on X thanked "especially the mothers and sisters of Bihar" for instilling their trust in the party.
The question is: what explains the shift in sentiment among women voters? Could direct cash transfers to women, in the name of welfare schemes, in India's poorest state have done the trick? Let's take a look:
Rs 12,500 Crore Transferred to Women Right Ahead of Elections
Months ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana on 26 September.
Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 were directly transferred into the accounts of 75 lakh women to start small businesses — with the possibility of increasing the financial support to Rs 2 lakh based on the success of their enterprise.
Weeks later, on 3 October, the second tranche of Rs 10,000 was directly transferred into the accounts of another 25 lakh women. Then on 7 October, another tranche was reportedly transferred to 21 lakh women; and then on 17 and 24 October.
'Brazen' Disregard for Model Code of Conduct
It is important to note here that the schedule for Bihar elections was announced on 6 October, which means the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force starting then. As per its guidelines, the party in power shall not announce any financial grants, welfare schemes or sanction payments out of discretionary funds once the MCC kicks in, since "it will clearly be intended to influence voters."
Model Code of Conduct
Model Code of Conduct
But with an apparent disregard for these guidelines, the NDA government in Bihar disbursed installments on 31 October (six days before Phase-I of election) , 7 November (four days before Phase-II of election), as well as 14 November, as per media reports. The Bihar elections were held on 6 and 11 November.
This means that direct cash transfer of Rs 10,000 was made to women — in a state that ranks at the top in NITI Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index — not just right ahead of the elections but during the peak campaigning period as well.
In fact, RJD MP Manoj Jha wrote to the Election Commission (EC) on 1 November, accusing the Bihar government of violating MCC by transferring money to women on 17, 24 and 31 October and 7 November. In a letter to the poll body, he said "I am writing to lodge a formal and strong protest against the brazen violation of the MCC by the government of Bihar through the direct cash transfer." But in vain.
Direct Cash Transfers to Women in Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana Too
The BJP, and its allies, have are increasingly started relying on women-centric welfare schemes and direct cash transfers — a strategy which is evidently yieliding results for the party — even as it marked a sharp U-turn from PM Modi's vocal criticism of freebies or rewris.
The pattern is evident from BJP's recent victories in the Assembly elections held in Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana and even Madhya Pradesh.
Ahead of the Assembly elections in Delhi earlier this year, the BJP promised a direct cash transfer of Rs 2,500 per month to women under the Mahila Samridhi Yojana if it comes to power. The party ended up winning 48 of 70 seats, its largest seat share in 27 years.
In the weeks leading up to the 2024 Haryana Assembly Elections, the BJP government promised a direct cash transfer of Rs 2,100 to women under the Lado-Lakshmi Yojana. The party ended up bettering its seat and vote share in the elections, against pollsters' and the Congress' expectations.
Months ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra last year, the government (BJP, Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde and NCP-Ajit Pawar) had rolled out the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, announcing a cash transfer of Rs 1,500 per month to 2.34 crore women in the state. They ended up retaining power in the state.
In Madhya Pradesh, where Assembly elections were scheduled for November 2023, then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had launched the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana in March of the same year, announcing a direct cash transfer of Rs 1,000 per month to all women — increasing the amount to 1,250 in October. According to an SBI report, quoted in Financial Express, the scheme resulted in the BJP gaining at least 30-35 seats spread across eight districts of the state.
And even though the schemes have not yet been rolled out in Delhi and Haryana, while the Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharshtra is replete with data inaccurancies; they seem to have fulfilled their electoral purpose.