A look at the sops being doled out to win women voters in the five poll-bound states shows our political parties’ newfound love for women. This is, however, not without a reason. For once, Bihar has to be given its due, as it has definitely been a torchbearer in this regard. After all, Nitish Kumar has proved successfully and beyond doubt that loyal and unflinching support of women voters do play a crucial role in polls and that they are the real kingmakers. The symbiotic relationship between women voters and Nitish ensured continuous electoral victory for him. The fact that women voters have outnumbered men in a number of states, including all poll-bound states of Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, make female voters the game-changers and hence the fight amongst political parties to out-do one another in wooing female voters.
The experience in Bihar has proved that women-centric schemes and programmes are instrumental in creating a solid support base of women voters, which has ensured successive election victories for JD(U) in the state. In Bihar’s Assembly election of 2005, the female voter turnout was 42.51 per cent and was less than the male voter turnout. From 2010 to 2015, women voter turnout shot up from 54.4 per cent to reach a record 60.4 per cent. Female voters surpassed men for the third assembly election in a row with women at 59.7 per cent in 2020 elections. Nitish’s timely intervention to uplift and empower the 4.9 million women, forming almost half of the state’s population, ensured back-to-back electoral victory for him. With a proven track record, it is only wise that different political parties take a cue from Nitish-led Bihar if they are serious about success in polls.
The list of promises that political parties have already made, would definitely give Nitish a ‘been-there-done-that’ feel because be it reservation for women in government jobs or financial support for education and marriage, Nitish seems to have seen it all. Bihar which had a long history of women being subjugated and discriminated against due to feudal, caste and patriarchal oppression, saw them emerging as a formidable force. The State did grab eyeballs when Nitish launched unique and well-thought about schemes for women empowerment. The first of its kind in the country was Mukhyamantri Cycle Yojana which was hailed as a revolutionary step in effectively raising the enrollment rate of girls in schools. To fight against child marriage, Bihar government rolled out Mukhya Mantri Kanya Utthan Yojana, with monetary incentive for girls, right from the time of their birth till completion of graduation when they would receive 25,000 rupees. Special monthly allowances are also given to acid attack victims and widows.
Bihar became the first state in the country to implement 50 per cent reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies and primary teacher’s posts. The move was applauded for bringing in a ‘silent revolution’ in Bihar’s politics. Another historic attempt to court women constituency was the 35 per cent reservation for women in all government jobs including the police force. Women now make up 25 per cent of the state’s police force-the highest in the country and more than double the national average (10.3 per cent). To ensure their participation in field postings, 35 per cent of posts from SHO to the SDM level is reserved for women. Girls also get 35 per cent reservations in medical and engineering admissions. Nitish government to fulfil his poll promise to women, banned liquor in Bihar in 2016, despite suffering huge revenue losses. All these measures have not only made Bihar’s progress an inclusive and sustainable one but have guaranteed a long tenure for the JD(U) government.
With the aim of following the winning streak of Nitish-led government in Bihar, all the political parties, be it BJP or Congress, are going all out to win over women voters in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
In Punjab, Congress state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has taken the lead in making barrage of promises starting with Rs 2,000 monthly allowance for women homemakers, surpassing Aam Aadmi Party’s promise of Rs 1,000. While speaking at a rally in Barnala, he also promised free cooking gas cylinders, two- wheelers to college going girls and monetary incentive to girls including Rs 20,000 on passing class 12. Setting up of women commando battalion, free transfer of properties in the name of women and interest free loans to run home-based businesses are some of the lucrative incentives to win over women voters in Punjab. According to Sidhu, it was to recognise the hard work of women that they wanted to do so much for them. But, the number of women candidates they have fielded in the state defy his emotions. While having a vote share of 50 per cent, only 10 per cent have been given tickets to contest election in the state. However, in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is experimenting and taking the lead by announcing a 40 per cent reservation of seats for women. According to the Election Commission office, enrolment of women in large numbers during the revision of electoral rolls has led to an improvement in the gender ratio by 11 points from 857 against 1000 male voters on November 1, 2021, to 868 by December, 5.
Women have clearly outnumbered men in registering themselves in the electoral rolls, emerging as potential power brokers. For obvious reasons, Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party cannot be left far behind in wooing the female voters. The party’s ‘Samajwadi Vachan Patra’ promises 33 per cent reservation for women of all communities in government jobs including police force. The BJP too in its manifesto ‘Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra’ has announced a number of allurements for women, including free commute for women passengers above 60 in public transport. They have also promised a whooping Rs1000 crore to be used for ‘Mission Pink Toilet, along with CCTV cameras, Pink Police booths and doubling of women members in UPPSC.
Similar is the case in Manipur where Congress, aiming at returning to power, has promised one-third reservation for women in all government jobs. It is noteworthy that here too women outnumber men by over 64,000.
In Goa too women voters outnumber men. No wonder, the Trinamool Congress in Goa has promised apart from a direct cash transfer of Rs 5,000 per month to woman of every household, a 33 per cent reservation in all jobs and 50 per cent reservation in local bodies. Two fast-track courts to address crime against women and children and an SOS Suraksha mobile app for women’s safety too find a place in their manifesto. Further, while Kejriwal has promised doubling the remuneration provided to women in Goa, Priyanka Gandhi has promised 30 per cent of the new government jobs to be reserved for females.
Increasing vote share along with increasing interest in politics, have thus, made women a force to reckon with in politics. And, having proven themselves as loyal support base for the party in Bihar, women have reached a point where they can command more respect and demand more sops from the political parties.
