New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) BJP leader Ram Madhav on Tuesday said politics in India has reached a point where predicting the voter behaviour has become difficult.
The president of the India Foundation made the remark at the launch of Ruhi Tewari’s book, What Women Want — an exploration of how Indian women vote and why.
The role of women-centric schemes in elections in states like Bihar, Delhi, and Maharashtra has been much discussed of late.
Madhav, during a discussion moderated by journalist and author Nidhi Razdan, said the concept of “vote banks” is no longer applicable.
“It’s all, after burning our hands, we realised that there is no such thing as vote banks. People vote very independently. Women voters are also voting very independently,” he said.
Madhav argued that not every scheme or benefit transfer can be called a “bribe”, as it helps people.
He also warned against “demeaning” voters by suggesting that they get influenced by benefits.
“We realised the hard way that you can’t easily bribe them also… It’s not easy. They will probably take your money and still vote for the party they want to vote for,” he said.
Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), however, said a welfare scheme must be announced well before an election.
“If it meant for development, meant for empowerment, it would not have come closer to elections. It would be an ongoing scheme, and you would also see the outcomes coming out of it,” she said.
Chaturvedi said political parties must consult women about what they want.
“That, unfortunately, is not happening. In terms of those who are in government, they announce the scheme, they try and influence a woman’s vote,” she said.
Chaturvedi said women are now transcending their caste, gender, and religious identities while voting and choosing to go with the party that is committed to their welfare.
All the same, she added that while parties want women to vote for them, women are not getting enough representation in politics.
“So, you want our vote, you don’t want our voice. You don’t want us in the places of positions, of being able to make policy decisions, positions of power, and positions of authority,” Chaturvedi said.
Shamika Ravi, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said it was very demeaning to expect women to vote only because they’re getting cash.
Asked about the debate around “freebies” and welfare schemes, and their supposed strain on the economy, she said, “The more serious conversation you ought to be having is pensions, which really covers 5 per cent of any state population, which is straining every state exchequer.” She added, “Do you know how many farmer loan waivers have been handed out over the last 50 years, almost entirely before the election cycle?” “…I think this conversation about women receiving benefits, women as recipients of cash, etc, that’s what electoral democracy is meant to get you.” Ravi asserted that no state’s economy was getting wrecked because of a “pittance” or cash to women.” “Your biggest non-development spending is in fact interest burden because you’re taking massive amounts of loans to do all kinds of things … And second is pension, going back to the old pension scheme. That is the single biggest drain to the state exchequer,” she said.
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that in the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls, his party’s campaign under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi was “at the cusp of the next wave of how political parties engage with women.” He said the party did not look at women through the narrow prism of recipients of a government dole, but as a section to be leveraged by political parties or political representatives.
In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls, the Congress gave tickets to 148 female candidates, which was 40 per cent of the total.
“And I think that’s what we’re trying to do in Assam also,” Gogoi said.
Tewari, meanwhile, said the female vote is forever evolving, and especially now that she’s at the forefront of political discourse.
“Women have been so marginalised and deprived of even the basics that something like a cash transfer, a toilet in her house in rural areas, or a method of clean cooking fuel in their houses has been a big deal,” she said.
“In some way, it’s giving them dignity, to some extent, it’s giving them, it’s improving their day-to-day existence. But once this phase is crossed, as the vote evolves, the next question women will ask is: Where is our representation?” she said. PTI AO VN VN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.