WOOING WOMEN

MADHYA PRADESH

- Rahul Noronha

First in Bihar and now in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot stop thanking those he calls the ‘silent voters’, namely the women in the electorate, who have been the direct beneficiaries of several central government schemes and have expressed their gratitude with their vote for the BJP. Increasingly aware of the importance of this demographic, the BJP is now openly wooing it. And what better way to consolidate the female vote than to fortify the state-sponsored self-help groups (SHGs), which have played a seminal role in empowering women in the countryside?