M. I. Khan, TwoCircles.net
Is paying more cash to women the new normal to win elections in India? This factor has emerged on the surface and is widely accepted by all, following the outcome of assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand last month. It was also visible in the outcome of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh last year.
Now, political parties, from the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the centrist Congress, as well as regional parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal-United or JD-U, are gearing up to face elections in different states next year (2025) or in 2026. They are eyeing the strategy of handing out more cash to women to secure their support and votes.
It appears that cash delivery to women has become a symbol of a guarantee to mobilise them and ensure their votes. The Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand implemented the Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojna, under which Rs 1,000 is provided monthly to all women. This is widely considered one of the factors that helped Soren consolidate his support base and defeat the BJP.
Without wasting time, parties have learned some hard lessons from the massive victory of the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra and the Hemant Soren-led INDIA alliance in Jharkhand. They are trying to reach out to women voters with specific promises to fulfill their aspirations if they come to power.
Political analysts admit that women-centric direct cash transfer schemes helped the BJP win in Maharashtra and the JMM in Jharkhand. Even last year, a popular women-centric cash scheme helped the ruling BJP retain power in Madhya Pradesh.
Take the case of promises made by the ruling AAP in Delhi ahead of the assembly polls early next year and Opposition RJD in Bihar months ahead of the election in the state in October-November 2025.
AAP Convenor and Ex-Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, known for successfully implementing direct beneficiary schemes for women, has promised that Rs 2,100 would be deposited into the bank accounts of every woman in Delhi if AAP forms the government again.
Similarly, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav last week announced a Rs 2,500 cash transfer to women under the Mai-Bahan Maan Yojna if the RJD-led INDIA alliance in the state comes to power.
After this promise was made by Tejashwi, former Deputy Chief Minister, with a clear message to reach out to women voters (who have consistently cast more votes than men in recent elections and have decided the outcome for over a decade), leaders of the ruling BJP and its major ally JD-U, along with other smaller allies, suddenly launched attacks against him. They have been targeting Tejashwi, questioning the viability of the scheme and expressing doubts about the source of funds to implement it in Bihar.
Some senior BJP and JD-U leaders, including ministers, have termed Tejashwi’s announcement to provide financial assistance to women as mere lies.
Interestingly, Bihar’s BJP leaders, while targeting Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of direct cash transfers to women, have forgotten that their party-led governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra sought votes in the name of similar schemes. In Maharashtra, the BJP used the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojna, under which Rs 1,500 was provided monthly to women aged 21 to 60 years.
In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the state government has been providing a cash transfer of Rs 1,250 under the Ladli Bahna Yojna to women beneficiaries’ bank accounts. This scheme was launched ahead of the last year’s assembly polls by then Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Similarly, in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, the government launched the Mathari Vandan Yojna early this year, as promised during assembly polls. Married women are being given Rs 1,000 under this scheme.
What surprised everyone in political circles was that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, at the last moment, postponed his much-hyped Mahila Samvad Yatra, which was aimed at mobilising women by reminding them of the women-centric policies and schemes implemented by him during the past two decades. He was also expected to gauge their pulse by interacting with them ahead of next year’s elections. Neither the chief minister nor his party JD-U officially stated why the Yatra (march), scheduled for December 15, was postponed.
According to political watchers, Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav’s promise on December 14 of a significant cash transfer scheme for women took Nitish by surprise. The Bihar chief minister had planned to interact with women during his Yatra. However, Tejashwi’s promise forced Nitish to take some time to counter this with a similar or more attractive scheme.
Sources in the JD-U indicated that Nitish Kumar would now launch his Yatra in mid-January 2025, accompanied by an attractive women-centric cash transfer scheme. “Nitish ji will announce a more attractive women-centric cash transfer scheme during his Yatra; all eyes and ears will have to wait until then,” said a senior JD-U leader and former minister, considered close to JD-U President Nitish Kumar.
Nitish, in the past, has rolled out several schemes for women empowerment, such as providing free bicycles to school-going girls under the Mukhyamantri Balika Bicycle Yojna, 35% reservation for women in all government jobs in the state and launching the Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojna to increase girls’ enrollment in schools.
Earlier, Nitish announced 50% reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj system, marking the first such move in the country to empower women.
A former JD-U MLA recalled that during campaigning for the Bihar assembly elections in 2015, Nitish, then chief ministerial candidate of the Grand Alliance (the JD-U, the RJD, the Congress and the Left), had promised 35% reservation for women in all government jobs if he was re-elected. Soon after taking office in November 2015, he reiterated his commitment to this promise.
Similarly, Nitish imposed a total liquor ban (prohibition) in early April 2016, fulfilling his promise made to women.
Several studies over the past one and a half decades have highlighted that a large number of women, cutting across caste and religion, voted for Nitish due to the implementation of women empowerment policies in the state.
“Women’s participation in elections has increased in recent years. There is a higher women voter turnout than men. In Bihar, many male members migrate in search of livelihood, which affects voting patterns. Most women, left behind in villages and small towns, go to polling booths and cast their votes. Official data confirms that women outnumbered men in casting votes. It is significant to note the importance of women voters in determining the outcome of elections,” said political commentator DM Diwakar.
The former director of the A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna, stated all political parties, except the Left, have been doing everything to woo women through cash transfer schemes.
According to official data from the Election Commission of India, women’s voter turnout in Bihar was higher than men’s in the 2020 Lok Sabha elections. Data shows that 59.7% of women voters cast their votes, compared to 54.7% of male voters. In the 2019 Bihar Assembly elections, about 59.58% of women voters voted, compared to 54.45% of male voters.
In the 2015 elections in the state, 60.5% of women voters cast their ballots, compared to 53.3% of men. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 57.66% of female voters turned out to vote, compared to 55.08% of male voters.
In the 2010 assembly polls, 59.6% of women voted, compared to 54.9% of men.
It seems that women voters in Bihar matter more than men, as they play a crucial role in determining the outcome of elections.
However, political activist Satyanarayan Madan has a different view. He argues, “Political parties have been using women-centric cash transfer schemes to create the perception of a pro-women image. Such schemes hardly help much because, to this day, many women have yet to decide independently about their political choices and whom to support or vote for. Caste and patriarchy still influence women’s decisions during elections.”
He adds, “Direct cash transfer schemes help women, but they are not a major factor in elections on the ground for several reasons. I doubt that they will tilt women in favor of ruling or opposition promises. One thing is clear: the governance model is essentially the same across all political parties. No one debates or questions anything new in terms of governance.”
Studies by various institutions, including the Delhi-based CSDS, have shown that parties are increasingly focusing on cash transfer schemes or direct financial benefits for women to mobilise them and expand their support base.
It is reported that women-centric schemes were first launched in Tamil Nadu, followed by other South Indian states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, in an effort to attract female voters.