Mahayuti woos women to counter anti-incumbency
MUMBAI: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes that when a man stands on his feet, only he gets financial independence but when a woman gets employment, she empowers the whole family. I would like to tell the leaders on the dais: please be ready to change the arrangement on stage as women will get 33% reservation i n the assembly and Lok Sabha from the next elections,” said deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in one of his rallies recently.
The statement was indicative of the Bjp-led Mahayuti’s concerted strategy to woo women voters, who account for around 48% of Maharashtra’s electorate.
Unlike the 2014 and 2019 elections, the low turnout in the first two phases of polling in some constituencies and the possibility of an anti-incumbency wave, particularly among farmers, are worrying t he Mahayuti alliance.
Maharashtra had 92 million voters registered before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, of which 48 million are men and 44 million are women. With the total percentage of female voters at almost 48%, the Mahayuti is strategically focusing on women, especially those who have benefitted from government schemes.
Fadnavis began cultivating women voters in his speeches after the first phase. Touting examples of government schemes, he declared that Modi had given ₹8 lakh crore worth of assistance to 8 million women’s self-help groups. “From the next elections onwards, male leaders will have to give more space to women leaders, as PM Modi has given them 33% reservation in Parliament and assemblies,” he announced. “Our alliance has also announced various schemes for the benefit of women and the girl child.”
Besides the top leadership talking about the government’s “pro-woman” stand in their speeches, BJP workers and candidates have been asked to hold meetings with women’s selfhelp groups and women’s groups active in social-spiritual work. “People are talking about the unrest among farmers and other issues but there is an undercurrent in favour of the Modi government: it comes from women, as they have got various benefits from the government,” claimed a BJP leader. “Thus, the party is focusing on women voters, as this is one way they can change the election results silently.”
In the recently concluded second phase of polling, Rajshri Patil, the Shiv Sena candidate from Yavatmal-washim, had barely 18 days to campaign. So Sena leaders focused on arranging meetings with women’s selfhelp groups and those women who had benefited from the schemes under ‘UMED’, a state government initiative aimed at helping women get financial independence. The list of bene
ficiaries with the Mahayuti alliance made it easy to contact these groups in a short time. MP Shrikant Shinde from Kalyan also held meetings of women’s self-help groups, which were attended by over 2,000 women. On Monday, Shinde Sena leader Sheetal Mhatre held a meeting with women who had benefited from government schemes at Hatkanangale, Kolhapur, which around 7,000 women attended. “The central government and the Mahayuti government under CM Shinde
have taken several decisions to benefit women,” said Mhatre. “We have the Chief Minister Women Empowerment Scheme. Besides holding large rallies of women, the party has assigned local leaders of its women’s wing to reach out to women voters in villages and cities to remind them how our government has worked for them. We are also aiming to increase the percentage of women voting in the coming phases, and party workers will appeal to women to vote before 12 noon.”