Opinion Congress manifesto in UP acknowledges the need for empowerment of women — an irreversible force
The Congress is not the first, or the only, political party that has identified the woman voter as a potential game-changer in elections.
The “pink manifesto” is an attempt by the party to cultivate the woman voter by appealing to her gender identity. 
Elections in Uttar Pradesh have revolved around questions of identity, especially since the 1980s when caste and religion began to influence voting preferences. This has facilitated a politics of exclusion, which is manifest in the vituperative campaign rhetoric that often ignores real issues of governance and representation. With assembly elections round the corner, the Congress, which lost its base to the parties of Mandir and Mandal in the 1990s, namely the BJP, BSP and SP, has launched a manifesto for women with the intent to craft a narrative that it hopes will subsume claims made on behalf of caste and faith. The Congress thinks that gender is a compelling identity, one that can overcome the fault lines of caste and religion. The “pink manifesto” is an attempt by the party to cultivate the woman voter by appealing to her gender identity. This is a welcome change, especially in UP where politics has been a prisoner of overtly masculine rhetoric, mobilisation and negative agendas.
The Congress is not the first, or the only, political party that has identified the woman voter as a potential game-changer in elections. The Aam Aadmi Party, for instance, has announced in Goa and Punjab, where elections are due soon, that it would pay a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000 to every woman above the age of 18. Earlier, in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar instituted a slew of schemes for girls, including free education and bicycles. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran and his successor, J Jayalalithaa, were the earliest to spot a gender dimension in the distribution of public goods. In West Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee has introduced cash transfers for women. These interventions, erroneously branded as poll sops, have improved the quality of life of women, especially the under-privileged. The Congress manifesto has promised reservation for women in jobs, creche facility in government offices, honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month for Asha and Anganwadi workers, 40 per cent reservation for women in MNREGA work, smartphone for girl students of class 12, scooty for those pursuing graduation, residential schools for girls, free public transport, monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for elderly women, 25 per cent reservation in police, incentives for women to run businesses and so on.
It is anybody’s guess if these promises can influence electoral outcomes immediately, but parties sooner than later will be forced to start a conversation on these issues. Similarly, the Congress has announced that 40 per cent of its candidates would be women. Reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions has started to build pressure at the grass roots for better representation in assemblies and Parliament. These promises may not turn around Congress prospects in UP, but it may influence the election discourse and transform the state in the long run.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on December 11, 2021 under the title ‘The aam aurat’.
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