Cash incentives for women steer Bengal poll discourse
With West Bengal's assembly elections approaching, cash incentive schemes for women have become a central part of the political discourse, as the Trinamool Congress's Lakshmir Bhandar and the BJP's Matri Shakti Vandan Yojana compete for voter attention. The Lakshmir Bhandar, offering monthly cash transfers to women, has expanded to 2.42 crore beneficiaries and is credited with boosting Trinamool's electoral success in 2021 and 2024. Both parties are leveraging these welfare schemes to gain an edge in a tightly contested election. The focus on gender-targeted financial benefits highlights their growing influence in shaping voter preferences.
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With fewer than seven days remaining before the first phase of polling in West Bengal, not only are political party leaders working hard to capture voters’ attention, but welfare schemes offering cash incentives to women in the State are also playing a significant role.As the West Bengal election campaign reaches its peak, a contest between the Lakshmir Bhandar of the Trinamool Congress and the Matri Shakti Vandan Yojana of the Bharatiya Janata Party has gained momentum on the sidelines. The Lakshmir Bhandar has been a time-tested model for the Trinamool and its announcement helped the party outperform a resurgent BJP in the 2021 Assembly election. Its implementation was also credited with the party’s 2024 Lok Sabha election win. The number of beneficiaries of the scheme, which provides ₹1,500 per month for women in the General categories and ₹1,700 for women from Scheduled categories, has reached 2.42 crore.
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