All parties relied on women factor to win Delhi but they affirmed faith in ‘Modi ki guarantee’

Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) In the run-up to the Delhi Assembly elections, financial assistance and aid to women voters turned out to be a rallying point, which all political parties, from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Opposition including BJP and Congress tried to exploit to woo them for winning the elections.

AAP supremo announced the Mahila Samman Yojana, under which a Rs 1,000 monthly allowance was to be provided to the women members of poor families and also promised to hike this amount to Rs 2,100 if the AAP was voted to power again.

BJP and Congress were quick to announce similar schemes for women in their respective manifestoes, promising Rs 2,500 monthly assistance under the Mahila Samridhi scheme and Pyari Didi Yojana respectively. However, it was the BJP’s poll promise backed by ‘Modi ki guarantee’ that resonated with the women electorate on the ground, prompting them to jettison the AAP and rally behind the party in the Delhi elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated from many platforms that all the ‘freebies’ being availed by Delhiites will be continued under the BJP government and it will go a step ahead in making their lives easier by providing clean water, pucca houses to slum dwellers and more.

On the other hand, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal stated multiple times, apparently to warn the voters, that if BJP comes to power in the capital, all their ‘revdis’ will be cancelled.

The open enticement of women voters, youth, slum-dwellers and more was for everyone to see. However, the people of Delhi believed in the ‘Modi ki guarantee’. A ‘silent revolution’ worked in BJP’s favour, feel political watchers, though much of it was also gauged by the polling agencies.

Notably, more than 46 per cent of Delhi's registered voters i.e. around 71 lakh are women.

In the 2020 elections, the AAP was understood to have swept nearly 60 per cent of women's votes while BJP managed to get only 35 per cent.