New Delhi: The Bihar government is set to launch the Ladli Laxmi scheme for women ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, replicating similar initiatives rolled out in other National Democratic Alliance-ruled states before polls.
The BJP has asked its cadres to prepare the ground for enrolment of women voters ahead of the launch of the financial assistance scheme, which appears to have played a crucial role in the the party’s electoral success in Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi.
Apart from the Ladli Laxmi scheme, the BJP has also asked party workers to focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s key five flagship welfare schemes and leverage his popularity during the election campaign. “The party has asked us to reach every household in our district ahead of polls. Each mandal committee member has been told to publicise the upcoming scheme and the party has asked us to prepare the ground for the Ladli Laxmi scheme in the state,” BJP’s Barh president Shailendra Prasad Mukhiya told ThePrint.
Cash incentive schemes for women appear to have played a key role in helping the BJP and other parties win state elections.
Shivraj Singh Chouhan was one of the first to beat anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh by implementing the Ladli Behna scheme. The NDA followed a similar playbook and announced the Ladki Bahin scheme to pave the way for its return to power with a bigger mandate in Maharashtra. In Haryana and Delhi too, BJP staged a comeback largely due to its promise of a women-centric cash incentive scheme.
Similarly, in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren returned to power, bolstered by the success of the Maiya Samman scheme providing financial assistance to women.
Taking a cue from these experiments, the NDA is preparing to roll out the Ladli Laxmi scheme in Bihar.
During his visit to the state Wednesday, BJP state in-charge Vinod Tawde held a series of meetings, including one with newly elected district presidents in Patna and Barh. In a core committee meeting, he directed district-level BJP leaders to spread awareness about central government schemes and the upcoming Ladli Laxmi scheme.
Before Holi, Tawde held similar meetings across districts, from Begusarai to Bettiah and Gopalganj, where he asked the party’s district units to be ready for the scheme’s implementation. He didn’t divulge any details.
“During the meeting, apart from discussing other schemes, the party asked them to raise awareness about the Ladli Laxmi scheme and go to each house to inform people about the women’s initiative. However, the party did not give a detailed account of the scheme during the meeting,” said BJP’s Bhagalpur district president Santosh Kumar Singh.
Also Read: Ladli Behna scheme has women rallying behind Shivraj, but not all men are happy
Ageing Nitish and his ‘silent voters’
As the NDA fights the Bihar assembly elections under the leadership of an ageing Nitish Kumar, both the BJP and Janata Dal (United) are working to strengthen their position.
Nitish Kumar has consistently relied on the support of so-called ‘silent voters’—particularly women, a key constituency in his electoral wins. When Nitish became chief minister for the first time, he implemented 50 percent reservation for women in panchayats in 2006, changing the social and political landscape of Bihar. His cycle scheme for school-going girls further reinforced his popularity among women voters. Through the women’s self-help group scheme, JEEViKA Didi, more than 1 crore women are now associated with the initiative. Women have also benefited from job reservations and the cycle scheme.
These are not the only initiatives targeted at women. In the past decade, Nitish has created one of the most loyal constituencies among women with a host of other policies.
Despite opposition to his decision, he implemented prohibition in 2016 in response to the demands of women voters. These silent voters, often overlooked in Bihar’s male-dominated society, have consistently backed him—even during his 2020 battle with Chirag Paswan.
Now, towards the end of his political career, Nitish needs their support more than ever. The women’s cash incentive scheme could bolster his position and that of the BJP in the state as they prepare to take on the aggressive challenge posed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Women have always been a big political force in Bihar. In the 2020 assembly elections, women voters outnumbered men, with 59.69 percent of women casting their ballot compared with 54 percent male voters. In 11 constituencies, women’s voter turnout crossed 70 percent and in 141 constituencies, it was 60 percent.
“Nitish cultivated the women’s constituency in his initial days and this constituency supported him through thick and thin. The cash scheme will draw more poor women towards the alliance. At the time, this is likely to be Nitish’s last election,” D.M. Diwakar, former director of the AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies, told ThePrint.
As NDA prepares to launch its cash assistance scheme for women, Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, who came close to power in the 2020 assembly polls by bagging 110 seats, seems to have preempted Nitish’s announcement.
Anticipating that the chief minister would unveil the scheme during his Pragati Yatra in December-January, Tejashwi moved first. During his own yatra in December, Tejashwi called a special press briefing in Darbhanga and announced a cash transfer scheme if his party came to power after the assembly elections. Under the proposed Mai Behan Maan Yojana, he promised women a monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 each.
“We want to empower every woman of Bihar. During my visits, I realised one thing that people are suffering from inflation and price rise. People are expressing their pain about the daily struggle for their livelihood,” Tejashwi said while announcing the scheme.
“With the blessings of crores of mothers and sisters of Bihar, today we have taken this decision that when our government is formed in 2025, we will give Rs 2,500 per month to women of the state under the Mai Behan Maan Yojana. The dream of ‘prosperous woman, happy family’ will also come true,” he added.
BJP to focus on Modi’s key schemes
Apart from cash assistance for women, the BJP has also directed its district leaders to focus on Prime Minister Modi and the Union government’s key flagship schemes to strengthen the party’s electoral grip in the state. A Bihar BJP general secretary told ThePrint that Tawde has directed district heads to meet with beneficiaries of schemes like the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ayushman Bharat, Vishwakarma Yojana, and PM Svanidhi for small traders.
“It is to remind them that PM Modi has a special love for them and that is why such schemes were launched. Since the prime minister is hugely popular in Bihar, we want to capitalise on his popularity in the polls,” the general secretary said. “It’s not that we are not seeking votes on the performance of the NDA government. But we want to leverage the Prime Minister’s connect with voters. As the party is fighting this election as part of the alliance, NDA conferences are being held in every district. Ultimately, Nitish is leading the alliance, but to beat anti-incumbency, we want to leverage the PM’s schemes more.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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