New Delhi: The names of 22.7 lakh women voters have been deleted in Bihar, a phenomenon that is expected to have its impact on the assembly elections in the state which are to be held later this year.While there are 3.5 crore women voters and 22.7 lakh of these voters were removed. Out of 3.92 crore male voters., 15.5 lakh names were deleted, resulting to a gender gap in deletions, where despite male voters being in higher numbers, this demographic saw less deletions as compared to women voters, reported The Tribune.The deletion of women voters from the electoral rolls come at a time when the ruling BJP-JDU alliance has emphasised women’s welfare in its agenda, making it a poll plank.Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had transferred Rs 10,000 to each of 25 lakh women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana on Friday (October 3).The scheme, which was announced on August 29 and launched on September 26 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, presently has one crore women beneficiaries.Gopalganj is the district which has recorded the highest reduction in women voters, with a 15.1% decline (1.5 lakh female voters out of the total 3.5 crore female voters), followed by Madhubani (1.3 lakh women voters’ names deleted) and Purvi Champaran (1.1 lakh, 6.7 per cent).Two other districts, Saran and Bhagalpur also saw deletion of around one lakh women voters, reported The Tribune.The six districts which saw highest voter deletions – Gopalganj, Madhubani, Purvi Champaran, Saran, Bhagalpur and Patna –collectively hold 59 Assembly seats.During the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, the opposition Mahagathbandhan had won 25 of these seats while the NDA had won 34 seats.The ECI is scheduled to visit Patna from October 4-5 to assess poll preparations, and it is expected that the assembly elections are to be announced soon.