Even as the I.N.D.I.A. bloc members are engaged in crucial talks in New Delhi to formulate strategies to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool Congress is moving swiftly to cement its standing among one of its core votebanks – the women.
According to the Election Commission, women constitute over 49% of Bengal’s 7.5 crore electorate. The gender ratio of Bengal’s voters is 967 women for every 1000 men.Women’s votes are “utmost crucial” and hence the ruling party is strategising its plans on how to ensure that it gets the benefit of the women’s votes during the Parliamentary elections.
Among the strategies that are being worked out is to drive home the point that the Trinamool Congress is the only party in the country whose Chief Minister is a woman.
Trinamool Congress sources told The Daily Guardian that this would not only bolster ties with women voters in Bengal but “the women-centric movement” would also “establish” why women were safer in Bengal compared to States where the BJP is in office.The Trinamool Congress is also keen to highlight that most of the social development schemes run by the Mamata Banerjee Government have benefitted the women of the State.To drive home that point, the Trinamool Congress’ Mahila Morcha will start its outreach programme across the State on December 22 and it will run till February 6. December 22 is also the day on which the INDIA bloc parties have decided to hold nationwide protests against the en masse suspension of MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
As a part of its 45-day outreach programme, the women’s wing of Trinamool Congress is all set to highlight the failures of the Central Government in bringing any substantial improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the women and the BJP’s anti-women feeling during the massive campaign in the block level.
Trinamool Congress leaders said that the party will highlight how the BJP tends to use women voters at the time of elections but does not serve their interest after the election is over. The women leaders will go to the blocks, talk to the women voters and try to convince them that it is the Mamata Banerjee Government that announces and runs schemes for the women throughout the year.
The initiative to woo women voters is being led by State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and South Kolkata MP Mala Ray. This outreach from December 22 to February 6 would take TMC Mahila Morcha leaders to all blocks in Bengal where they would conduct a “series of para baithaks and provide mentorship to those interested in active politics”, a senior leader said. Bhattacharya is also the party’s Mahila Morcha president and Ray, its chairperson.Party sources said that the women’s wing aims to recruit at least 50,000 new members in its rolls through this outreach programme.Bengal’s women-centric direct cash transfer (DCT) schemes have been talked about in political circles during the just-concluded Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Mizoram.The 2023 rural polls in Bengal indicated that women voters had taken a lead role in the Trinamool’s success. In places where women came out in large numbers, often outnumbering their male counter-parts, the ballots seemed to favour the Trinamool Congress. Interestingly, the trend was witnessed in even the BJP strongholds of Alipurduar, North Dinajpur and East Midnapore. The Opposition fared comparatively well in places like Cooch Behar, West Midnapore and Murshidabad, where women voters were less than men. To cement this, Trinamool Congress picked 19 women as sabhadhipatis or saha-sabhadhipatis at the 20 TMC-governed zilla parishads. According to sources, women constitute more than 55% of the boards.
Chandrima Bhattacharya, the party’s Mahila Morcha president, said: “Under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, Bengal consistently stands as the safest haven for women. This unique initiative focuses on empowering women at the grassroots, showcasing our strong commitment to women’s rights.”