WOMEN EMERGE AS THE NEW TALISMAN FOR ELECTION WINS

Politicians are waking up to women as a voting block, which is good for democracy

- Shashi Shekhar

Do you feel our politicians are seldom concerned about public welfare and that they don't invest enough attention to the uplift of the masses? Do you feel they create a wedge in the society during elections, and abandon the electorate once they win?

To answer these questions, let me take you back to 2023. The Madhya Pradesh government was then facing extreme anti-incumbency. Under those circumstances, the then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan announced the Ladli Behna Yojana for women. This scheme turned the tide in his favour and returned the BJP to power.

Similarly, at the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress came back to power riding on schemes, especially targeting women. Welfare schemes for women have turned out to be sure-shot ways to retain or regain power now.

The trend was started in 2001 in Tamil Nadu by the then chief minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa, who was running for another term at the assembly election. She launched schemes mainly targeting women, and they rewarded her with a huge victory.