Ladki Scheme Brought Autonomy, Can't Substitute Public Investment

The political colour of money ceases to matter when it comes to poor women as welfare, but it evidently shores them up in various ways – and influences their voting decision, as the Maharashtra election results show.

- Smruti Koppikar

The landslide win of the Mahayuti has been repeatedly attributed to the Ladki Bahin Yojana – though other factors weighed in too – which the government rolled out in August.

Since then, nearly 2.5 crore women across Maharashtra have received Rs7,500 each; the Mahayuti parties promised to raise it to Rs2,100 a month if it was back in power. Nearly 3.06 crore women voted in the election registering a turnout higher than in previous elections.