Women voters are back in focus, and there are reasons for the political parties to woo them. This silent constituency has turned the fortunes of leaders like Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee when they were faced with massive opposition in the elections. While the male voters may be the vocal ones, divided along the caste lines and other considerations, women voters, who benefit from various schemes of state governments, appear to stand by their benefactors.
As elections to five states are due early next year, political parties are promising women voters tangible benefits. The Aam Aadmi Party is promising Rs 1,000 to all women above the age of 18 in Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand, forcing other parties to make a better offer.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi made a dramatic announcement of giving 40 per cent quota to women in government jobs, and 25 per cent in police if her party were to come to power in Uttar Pradesh. She released a pink manifesto, promising mobile phones to girls who pass Class XII, and assured that 50 per cent of the PDS shops would be allotted to women. She also offered to better the earlier promise of allotting 40 per cent tickets to women candidates.
The BJP, meanwhile, has been telling women voters that Yogi Adityanath government has made the state crime-free, providing a safe environment for women.
The bigger promise to women across the country came as Narendra Modi government hurriedly brought in a bill, increasing the legal age for marriage for women from 18 to 21. The legislation was hailed “historic” as cabinet minister Smriti Irani introduced it in the Lok Sabha. The bill was sent to the parliamentary standing committee for further discussion amidst opposition. The government is likely to take up the bill if the panel submits its report during the Budget session, the time when election campaign will be in full swing in the five states. PM Modi had first made the announcement in this regard in his Independence Day speech in 2020.
The BJP hopes that the decision will be appreciated by the girls across the country, who want to pursue education and have career aspirations. Besides, every year, a large chunk of first time voters are added to the electoral rolls. First time voters have preferred Modi over his rivals, as various surveys have shown.
On the same day that the marriage age bill was introduced in the parliament, Modi addressed a rally of women in Prayagraj. He listed the measures undertaken by his government in the last seven years, and those by the Yogi government for the welfare of women.
The government transferred Rs. 1,000 crore to the bank accounts of Self Help Groups (SHGs), benefitting around 16 lakh women members. This transfer was done under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), where 80,000 SHGs received Rs. 1.10 lakh per SHG. The Centre also transferred Rs. 4,000 as first month's stipend to the accounts of 20,000 Business Correspondent-Sakhis (B.C.-Sakhis). Besides, over Rs 20 crore was transferred to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries under the Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Scheme.
Addressing the women, Modi said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana houses have been allotted in the name of women.
What prompts parties to woo women in states like Uttar Pradesh is the realisation that while men are divided on the lines of caste and other considerations, women tend to favor those leaders/parties that help them run the households. Hence, such schemes have a resonance among women.
Even data supports the way women are exercising their right to vote. According to the election commission, after seven decades and 17 general elections since Independence, women's participation in India has exceeded that of men and stood at more than 67 per cent in the 2019 general elections. “Gender gap, a crucial parameter, which was -16.71 per cent in 1962, has not only closed but reversed to +0.17 per cent in 2019. In fact, India has witnessed a 235.72 per cent increase in female electors since the 1971 elections,” chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra said last month.
Similar trend was witnessed in Bihar where, in several constituencies, women voters exceeded the male voters. Women may be termed as silent voters, but they don't to fail to express their opinion at the electronic voting machines. The assembly elections in 2022 will certainly witness more parties going all out to woo female population when they release their manifestos. Far bigger pressure will be on the parties to allot more seats to women.