Chennai: With welfare schemes and targeted campaigning, the M.K. Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in Tamil Nadu is making a visible effort to woo the state’s 3.15 crore women voters, many of whom once rallied behind All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and J. Jayalalithaa.
At the centre of the latest leg of this outreach is Chennai’s 29-year-old Mayor, Priya Rajan, who has been roped in to campaign for the party ahead of the 27 February East Erode assembly bypoll. Many ministers and top DMK leaders, too, are campaigning in the constituency for DMK-Congress candidate E.V.K.S. Elangovan, a former chief of the Tamil Nadu Congress.
Sources in the DMK said besides wooing young and women voters, Priya has been entrusted with spreading awareness in the constituency about the party’s policies and schemes.
In January this year, Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo had informed the electorate that in Tamil Nadu, women voters (numbering 3,15,43,286) outnumber their male counterparts (3,04,89,866). He had also said the state has 4,66,374 voters aged between 18 and 19 years.
On the DMK’s strategy to rely on the young Chennai mayor ahead of the Erode East bypoll, Ramu Manivannan, a professor in the department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Madras, said that though Priya is “not a charismatic leader like Jayalalithaa, sometimes her position as mayor of the capital city can be an inspiration for many”.
He added: “If you are sending women mayors for bypolls (to campaign), DMK has many plans along the way for the future, is what we can understand.”
Meanwhile, talking about the DMK’s chances in the bypolls, Tamil-English writer and political commentator Maalan Narayanan told ThePrint, “This byelection will not be a tough challenge for DMK, but is only a testing ground for their groundwork for the bigger race in 2024 (Parliamentary elections) and 2026 (assembly polls).”
Interestingly, the AIADMK, which in the past had a number of popular schemes targeted at women voters — including one that provided for free mangalsutras and another that subsidised the purchase of two-wheelers for women — has pointed out that some of these schemes were withdrawn by the Stalin-led government.
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‘Free bus rides, stipends for girl students’
A considerable section of women voters in Tamil Nadu was aligned with the AIADMK till the time MGR and then Jayalalithaa — affectionately called Amma by supporters — were at the helm. But political observers say Jayalalithaa’s death may have triggered a shift among women voters towards the DMK.
“In the AIADMK, infighting, factionalism and lack of good women faces has also led to women voters switching sides. The AIADMK’s failure in 2019 (Lok Sabha polls) and later in 2021 (assembly polls) are all indicators of this,” Chennai-based political analyst Priyan told ThePrint.
He added: “DMK is trying to win over women voters who were earlier with Jayalalithaa. They introduced a free bus scheme for women and that was a big hit. For women college students who joined college, Rs 1,000 is given monthly. This scheme has benefited over 2.5 lakh girl students.”
According to Priyan, the DMK has been scoring browning points with its gamut of schemes aimed at the welfare of pregnant women, widows, single women, girl students and women eligible for marriage.
“Education is something that can never be taken away. An educated woman will empower her home and her society and she won’t need assistance to buy mangalsutra or a bike,” said DMK spokesperson Salem Dharanidharan.
Since assuming office in May 2021, Stalin has announced, among other welfare initiatives, free bus travel for women in government-owned city and town buses. In his Budget speech last year, Finance minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said the scheme led to an increase in the share of women passengers travelling in government buses from 40 per cent to 61 per cent.
Another popular scheme announced by the DMK envisioned Rs 1,000 monthly aid to women heads of families, but the scheme is yet to be implemented.
Similarly, under the Pudhumai Penn (modern women) scheme, DMK launched a programme for women college students, who had studied in government schools from classes 6 to 12, to be given Rs 1,000 monthly aid till the completion of college.
“This is a revolutionary scheme that will encourage more girl students to go to college,” said DMK spokesperson A. Saravanan, adding that Stalin is the “only leader in Tamil Nadu who appeals to youngsters and young women”.
“We have always been committed to uplifting women. He puts the interests of Tamil Nadu in the forefront and he is the best mascot we have now,” Saravanan told ThePrint.
On the DMK’s campaign for the Erode East bypoll, AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan —who is now in Erode — said, “DMK’s desperation has pushed them to send new faces, but nothing will change. Women voters will vote only for Amma’s AIADMK.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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