Were women-centric schemes game-changers in Maharashtra, Jharkhand assembly elections? | India News

Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Hemant Soren

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Saturday witnessed the emergence of a strong alliance- Mahayuti and INDIA bloc- in the 2024 state Assembly elections.
In Maharashtra, Mahayuti, the BJP-led NDA group, is set to retain power as it claimed a landslide victory while in Jharkhand, INDIA, the Congress-JMM-RJD-CPI(ML)-group, seems to be back on the throne.

While the counting of the votes for several seats are still continuing, Mahayuti alliance won around 220 seats. In Jharkhand the results for 81 seats are out where INDIA bloc won 56 seats. Both the alliance crossed the majority mark.
There are several reasons behind their victory but it seems that the women centric schemes could have proved a game-changer in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand, as both states witnessed a surge in women voters.

Maharashtra assembly elections

In Maharashtra, where the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP alliance registered a landslide victory, the Ladki Bahin Yojana launched in August this year ahead of the assembly polls provided Rs 1,500 per month to women with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde later increased this amount to Rs 2,100 and announced plans to recruit 25,000 women police officers.
Despite a narrow 0.4 per cent margin between the ruling Mahayuti and opposition MVA in recent Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led coalition secured a historic number of seats in the state.
CPI(M) leader Ashok Dhawale attributed the MVA’s defeat to initiatives like the Ladki Bahin scheme and construction worker programmes implemented by the Mahayuti government following the Lok Sabha results.
“There are several factors, which will have to be further analysed, but after the Lok Sabha elections, the state government decided on various schemes like the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides Rs 1,500 per month to women, and some schemes for the construction workers had an impact on the voters,” Dhawale told PTI.
The direct benefit transfer scheme for women proved decisive in Madhya Pradesh’s Assembly elections. The BJP’s ‘Ladli Behna Yojana’, implemented under former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, helped maintain their power despite perceived Congress advantages.

Jharkhand assembly elections

When Chouhan became election in-charge for Jharkhand, the BJP promised Rs 2,100 monthly payments to women if elected.
The incumbent government pre-emptively launched the ‘Maiya Samman scheme’ in August, offering Rs 1,000 monthly to women aged 21-50 years, potentially benefiting five million women statewide, which appeared to favour the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Electoral Commission data shows decreasing gender gaps in voter turnout. Maharashtra’s recent Assembly polls saw 65.21% women voters versus 66.84% men, compared to 2019’s wider gap of 62.77% male and 59.2% female voters.
In Jharkhand’s Assembly elections, women voters exceeded men across both phases, with higher female turnout in 68 of 81 constituencies.
From 2.61 crore registered voters, including 1.29 crore women, over 1.76 crore participated. Women voters numbered 91.16 lakh, surpassing male turnout by 5.52 lakh votes, according to Election Commission data.