To win Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, BJP and Congress go head to head with promises for women’s welfare Premium

The challenge, however, is to convince beneficiaries that a bird in hand is better than the Congress’ manifesto promise of ₹1,500 per month, as both parties are keeping women voters central to their campaign strategy

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with Union Ministers and BJP leaders during the inauguration of the party’s election management office in Bhopal on July 23, 2023. | Photo Credit: PTI

For the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, battling a narrative war with the Congress in the run-up to the Assembly election in the State, the campaign boils down to convincing women voters — 48% of the State’s electorate — to believe in the record of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government in delivering on welfare programmes.

The BJP and the Congress have kept women voters front and centre in their campaign strategy — while the State government has launched the Ladli Behena scheme to provide a monthly income support of ₹1,000 to women in the 23-60 age group, the Congress has promised the Nari Samman Yojana for ₹1,500 a month.

The Chouhan government has already released two instalments, adding up to roughly over ₹2,400 crore, to over 1.25 crore beneficiaries of the scheme. The challenge, however, is to convince beneficiaries that a bird in hand is better than worth two in the bush, meaning the Congress’s promise.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in Sehore, where the Ladli Behena scheme was launched. Parts of the Chief Minister’s Assembly constituency of Budhni fall in Sehore.

“We have been getting the [money] instalments of Ladli Behena regularly and the money is really helpful,” Radha Mewada, a resident, said. She uses the cash for various things, from indulging her children to purchasing medicines and buying cooking gas.

She also admits to have filled in the form furnished by Congress workers in the area for the Nari Samman Yojana. “That is, however, something that has been promised. This is already delivered,” she said with a smile, but adds that she filled the form, “just in case” the Congress came to power.

Manju Kumari, also from the area and a beneficiary, said she has full faith in the promise made by Mr. Chouhan that the amount will gradually be raised to ₹3,000. “If he has given ₹1,000, he will also give ₹3,000,” Ms. Kumari said.

In fact, the BJP has cottoned on to the fact that the ₹3,000 promise is important to emphasise, and say the first increase from ₹1,000 to ₹1,250 will be done in a month or so, before the Model Code of Conduct for the election comes into effect in the State.

“In a situation of similar promises, the one with a track record of delivering on promises will get the confidence of the people. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, with the Ladli Laxmi [scheme] has a reliable track record,” a senior BJP leader said.

What could trip the BJP up is something that worked against the party’s government in Karnataka as well — the high cost of cooking gas. The Congress has already announced a ₹500 subsidy support to women for buying cooking gas, and the Central government’s ₹200 per cylinder subsidy has not been heard of either in Bhopal or Sehore.

Mr. Chouhan’s record as Chief Minister for delivering on promises is, therefore, key to the BJP’s prospects in Madhya Pradesh. Very clearly then, the road to Shyamala Hills, the Chief Minister’s offical residence, goes through the State’s aanganwadis and kitchens.