How BJP is looking to breach a BJD ‘stronghold’ in Odisha, deal Naveen Patnaik’s party a body blow

While the BJP, in its manifesto, promised to give vouchers of Rs 50,000 each to all women under the scheme, which can be encashed in two years, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday said Rs 10,000 would be paid annually — in two annual instalments of Rs 5,000 each on Raksha Bandhan and International Women’s Day — for five years. The government plans to cover over one crore women under the scheme, with an estimated budget of Rs 55,825 crore in five years, the CM said.

The government also downplayed the Mission Shakti programme, which was given the highest priority during the previous BJD regime and helped the regional party create a loyal vote bank among rural women. Mission Shakti, which was launched in 2001 a year after the BJD assumed power, organised around 70 lakh rural women as part of six lakh self-help groups (SHGs).

“Support of women, especially in rural Odisha, was the biggest factor behind the BJD’s electoral success between 2000 and 2024. We managed to cut into the BJD’s women voters with the promise of Subhadra, which got much traction on the ground. Rolling out the scheme was a priority for the government,” said a senior BJP leader, adding that through the Subhadra scheme, the BJP government “will create its own support base among women”.

BJP insiders said women voters played a huge role in its Assembly election victory that saw its vote share jump eight percentage points — from 32.8% in 2019 to 40.07%. The scheme’s name also holds significance. Goddess Subhadra is the younger sister of Lord Jagannath, the most revered deity in Odisha, where over 90% of the population is Hindu. “Naming of the scheme and the decision to release the monetary assistance on Raksha Bandhan aim to strike an emotional chord with women,” said a senior bureaucrat.

On downplaying the BJD’s Mission Shakti, BJP leaders said unlike the regional party that saw women just vote banks, the party would focus on empowering women by creating 25 lakh Lakhpati Didis, another of the BJP’s election promises. The BJP government said it would create industrial clusters for every 500 SHGs, under which women will be trained in product marketing and promotion.

The BJD, which has struggled to fight back after its twin defeats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, and party president and former CM Naveen Patnaik called the scheme an “eyewash”.

“The BJP had given a guarantee to give Rs 50,000 to each woman. During the election, they said Rs 50,000, but they are paying only Rs 5,000. They said all women will get it but only one in three will get it. Is this the BJP’s guarantee to mothers?” Patnaik said.

About 2.25 crore women of the total 4.5 crore in Odisha were expected to be covered under the scheme, only 70 lakh women will be covered, Patnaik added. He said Rs 5,000 every six months only amounts to around Rs 800 a month.

The former CM also claimed the BJP government borrowed around Rs 50,000 crore to implement Subhadra and other guarantees. “It is a debt burden on all of us. Our mothers and sisters have to repay it with interest. Will it enable women’s empowerment?” Patnaik said.

Claiming the BJD had managed to keep its women vote bank intact given that it secured the highest overall vote share of 40.22% in the Assembly polls, party sources said it would next create awareness among women about the BJP’s “game plan”.

The Congress also accused the government of trying to hoodwink women with the Subhadra announcement. Congress MLA Sofia Firdous told reporters the government had no vision for women. “Many women like ASHA workers, Anganwadi and Pachika (who cook mid-day meals in schools) will not be covered. What kind of women’s empowerment is the government planning with just Rs 833 per month?” Firdous said.