As women cash schemes show poll results, Nitish Kumar may follow suit

“There is a discussion within the party, the alliance and the government about it. Although this does not fit with Nitish ji’s idea of welfare politics, given how popular these schemes have become and how they have helped incumbent governments return to power, it may have to be done,” a senior JD(U) leader told The Indian Express.

Additionally, the JD(U) is under pressure from the Opposition RJD, which has already announced the Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, under which it has promised to provide a monthly assistance of Rs 2,500 to women from poor families if it comes to power in Bihar.

The JD(U)’s poll pitch too is focused on women voters who it believes will propel Nitish back to power in 2025. Sounding the poll bugle on December 22, one of the first yatras it launched was the Nari Shakti Rath Yatra which is traversing through all districts of the state, talking about all the government schemes launched for the welfare of women and how they can avail the benefits.

Even the CM’s Pragati Yatra, which began on December 23, was earlier supposed to be named “Mahila Samvad Yatra”. Yet, the focus of the Pragati Yatra is unmistakably women. Beginning his yatra from Valmiki Nagar in West Champaran, the first group that the CM met was women. Since then, every district Nitish has been visiting, sources said, he has been meeting women and asking them whether they are availing government benefits and asking them what more the government can do.

The Nari Shakti Rath Yatra was launched from Patna by JD(U) National Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha and state President Umesh Singh. Jha, during the launch, said the yatra was aimed at “realising the dreams of Bihar’s mothers, sisters and daughters” and “to make them aware of their rights”.

On the same day, Jha and Singh also launched the Karpoori Rath Yatra, named after former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, who belonged to the Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) and was a pioneer of reservations. The yatra underlines the JD(U)’s focus on EBCs, a constituency that Nitish has nurtured carefully and has enjoyed its backing too.

“Bridging the gap that had existed for centuries between the elite and the neglected classes of the society was a big challenge for Nitish Kumar. But with great determination, he turned it into an opportunity launching programmes focused on women, OBCs, EBCs, Dalits, Mahadalits and Adivasis,” JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad told the Indian Express.

He said the increased representation of women and EBCs in jobs, panchayats and grassroots government units was evidence that the people had benefited from the schemes.

“All these schemes were improved upon further by getting public feedback through yatras in the past. Through the ongoing yatras, the government wants to ascertain whether people are getting the benefits of the schemes and based on the feedback, big decisions will be taken,” Prasad said.

Notably, Nitish was among the first politicians in the country to identify women as a separate constituency. In his very first term as CM in Bihar, he launched various women-centric schemes like distribution of school uniforms to cycles among school-going girls. There is also a 50% reservation for women in panchayats in Bihar while the state claims to have the highest representation of women (in percentage terms) in the country in its police force.

Amid the Constitution pitch of the Opposition, the party has also launched Ambedkar Rath Yatra which will traverse through all districts and establish dialogue with Dalits. An Alpsankhyak Rath Yatra is on the move to engage with Muslims in the state. The yatras will continue for two months, sources said.

“In the run up to Lok Sabha polls, we had launched the Bhim Samvad and Karpoori Charcha targeting Dalits and EBCs. It gave us positive results. The NDA’s performance in Bihar was much better than in UP. The Constitution issue did not dent us here. We aim to similarly counter the Opposition’s misinformation through our yatras this time,” JD(U) state unit vice-president Ravindra Prasad Singh, who is coordinating the various yatras, said.