Dear readers,
If the election din in Maharashtra and Jharkhand is anything to go by, you would think women had suddenly become the secret sauce of Indian politics. From welfare schemes to campaign slogans, every party seems to have discovered that half their voters are women—who knew?
Be it the BJP’s “beti, roti, aur maati” campaign and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Maiya Samman Yojana (MSY) in Jharkhand, or the Eknath Shinde-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s Ladki Bahin scheme in Maharashtra, women voters have been top priority for political parties.
I remember how the Ladli Behna Yojana in Madhya Pradesh boosted the sagging fortunes of Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s BJP in the 2023 Assembly election, bringing them to power and proving all political pundits wrong. It seems both Jharkhand and Maharashtra could see a similar play of woman power in these elections.
In Jharkhand, women voter turnout was higher in nearly 68 of the 81 Assembly segments—about 85 per cent of the seats. Women voted nearly 5.5 per cent more than men. While the ruling JMM was paying Rs.1,000 to women under MSY and promised to increase it to Rs.2,500 per month if voted to power, the BJP promised Rs.2,100 monthly under a new scheme, “Gogo Didi Yojana” (gogo is “mother” in Santhali.)
Jharkhand now has 10 women MLAs, more than double the four it had in 2000 when the State was carved out of Bihar (along with Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, respectively). In terms of percentage of total Assembly strength, it ranks third among States for women’s representation. Among first-time voters, women outnumber men in all 81 Assembly seats, with 32 Assembly seats having a higher percentage of women voters than men.
Meanwhile in Maharashtra, campaigning for the BJP candidate in Pune, party leader Rajnath Singh praised the Shinde government’s Ladki Bahin Yojana and highlighted how the Narendra Modi-led Central government passed the Nari Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies.
“Leaving half the population behind, we cannot achieve the dream of Viksit Bharat. [The] Congress used to speak about nari shakti, but they did not take the necessary steps for women empowerment,” Singh said.
Taking a cue from the Trinamool Congress’ “Maa, Maati, Manush” (Mother, Motherland, People) slogan, the BJP launched a “Roti, Beti, Maati” (livelihood, women’s welfare, motherland) campaign in Jharkhand. But it was not all benign. Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the “Maati, Beti, and Roti” of tribal people were under threat from illegal immigrants and that only the BJP would provide them security. The BJP’s campaign, launched in September, also included asking women to collect maati (soil) and akshat (consecrated rice) to be offered at the famous Chinnamasta temple in Rajrappa, to pray for the protection of Jharkhand’s land and women.
Yet, political parties have not shown much faith in women candidates’ ability to win, especially those without political connections. In Jharkhand, the women candidates were mostly wives, daughters, or daughters-in-law of known male politicians. In Maharashtra, both the NDA and INDIA blocs (Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, respectively) gave only 8 per cent of the ticket to women. The number of women MLAs might increase marginally from the 23 the State had in 2019.
India has seen some powerful women Chief Ministers, from the maverick Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal to the mercurial Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh, India’s first woman Dalit Chief Minister. And who can forget Jayalalithaa, who ruled Tamil Nadu for more than 14 years across six terms with an iron grip on her party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam?
Despite this and women’s welfare schemes appearing in every party’s manifesto, the commodification of women in political discourse continues to rear its ugly head. There were many controversies around comments denigrating women in both States.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant stirred controversy after using the term “imported item” for Shaina N.C., a former BJP leader who contested as a candidate of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, a BJP ally. The NDA condemned the remark’s alleged sexual undertones, and Sawant apologised, claiming his statements were misinterpreted.
Another Shiv Sena candidate, Suvarna Karanje, filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against her rival candidate Sunil Raut of the Shiv Sena (UBT) from Vikhroli. She alleged that he called her bakri (goat), not only insulting her dignity but also suggesting violence. An FIR was registered against Raut, who is the brother of his senior party leader Sanjay Raut.
In Jharkhand’s Jamtara seat, where Shibu Soren’s eldest daughter-in-law Sita Soren is a BJP candidate against the Congress’ Irfan Ansari, police filed an FIR against Ansari for calling Sita a “rejected item”. Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba condemned Ansari’s remarks. Sita Soren, tearful in public, called it “an insult to women of the tribal community”.
In the din of campaign noise, one thing is clear: women’s political empowerment largely remains confined to sloganeering, and the political discourse continues to reflect gender bias and women’s commodification. With the curtain falling on the high-octane election campaigns in both States, which briefly brought women’s empowerment into the spotlight, the issue will likely fade until the next election.
As former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “There cannot be true democracy unless women’s voices are heard. There cannot be true democracy unless women are given the opportunity to take responsibility for their own lives. There cannot be true democracy unless all citizens are able to participate fully in the lives of their country.”
Tomorrow the votes will be counted, but will anyone count what really changed for half our population? Write to us with your thoughts.
Anand Mishra | Political Editor
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