BJP woos women voters who outnumber men in Himachal polls

Women in Himachal Pradesh who play a key role in the running of the hill economy, managing households to orchards and cash crops also outnumber men when it comes to voting in the elections.

Dominating at least 16 to 18 seats in the state’s 68- member assembly, women are set to play a crucial role in the election, slated to be held on November 12.

In the 2017 election, the female voter turnout was 79%, as compared to 70% for men. Women outnumbered men in 16 key Assembly constituencies and had been holding top positions in the government.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a conscious bid to woo women voters, to counter the negative impact of the Congress’s anti-incumbency poll agenda and Old Age Pension (OPS) issue.

A separate 11-point Istri Shakti Sankalp in the BJP manifesto gives a clear message about the party’s commitment to self-empowerment of women, as well as school and college going girls in the hills.

The BJP has promised 33 percent reservation for women in government jobs and educational institutions while the most innovative idea is setting-up at least two girls hostels in every district for the girls pursuing higher education.

“It has been observed for a long time that parents don’t send their daughters to other towns. The facility of hostels will motivate the girls to continue their higher education even if they have to leave their villages in the remote mountain valleys” said education minister Govind Thakur.

To further encourage the girls in this step the BJP has announced to provide bicycles for the girls going to schools in class 6 to 12 while those in higher education will get free scooties to travel.

“Look at the scheme, we proposed Rs 25,000 to pregnant women as a step to ensure proper facility of diet for the women, their care besides that of the new born babies” feels Shashi Bala, a BJP candidate contesting from Rohru, in the interior belt of Shimla.

Interest-free loans for women running homestays for which the new government will set-up a Rs 500 crore corpus fund and women self-help groups to be given loans at reduced interest of 2 percent is another landmark.

Adding up to Ujala yojana of the centre, the state has a scheme Grahini Suvidha providing two free LPG cylinders and a stove to every household. It has introduced a new scheme of three LPG  cylinders in the manifesto.

Under the Mukyamantri Shagun Yojana, the BJP proposes to enhance existing benefits of Rs 31,000 given to girls of Below Poverty Line families at the time of their marriage.

“This has been raised to Rs 51,000” says Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who claims a budgetary provision of Rs 27.30 cr was made for this.

By now, the government has already spent Rs 20.54 crore as more than 7000 girls were given the benefits of the scheme.

Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was in Shimla for the campaign, said a separate election manifesto for women by the BJP was a milestone in politics.

“Sole objective of the BJP was to ensure uniform development of every section of society. The release of an exclusive Sankalp Patra for women only reiterates the party’s resolve towards women empowerment and providing them equal opportunities for participation in every field,” he said.

The Congress, on the other hand, has promised Rs 1500 per month to all women in the age group of 18 to 60 years.

Asked how BJP manifesto is different from Congress , BJP National president J P Nadda, who released the “Sankalp Patra” said “ we have backed every promise with statistics about budgetary provisions and number of beneficiaries in the target. Did you find such seriousness in the Congress document? If not, that means they are completely non-serious on the issue.”

He said that in the BJP’s Sankalp Patra, the concerns of “good governance” and “Sanatan” have been addressed together. Bharatiya Janata Party will launch the “Shakati Programme”. In which infrastructure and roadways will be strengthened in all the big temples and “Shaktipeeths” by investing 12 thousand crores in 10 years.

Meanwhile the Congress is also facing a wrath for fielding only three female candidates of which Asha Kumari , a five-time MLA is currently the seniormost legislator in the outgoing assembly

This time, the BJP has given tickets to six women to contest the polls, out of whom five are new faces.