Politicians have still not realised what women voters want

Politicians continue to absolve themselves from the uncomfortable truth - that women need a level playing field, not handouts

- BHAVDEEP KANG

It's that time of the electoral cycle, when women voters are aglow with glittering promises of wealth raining down on them like tinsel. Often, these promises prove as insubstantial as those bits of shiny metal foil. What's more, they speak volumes for the patriarchal mindset of political parties.

Increased electoral participation has led to the recognition of women voters as an influential category that could decide outcomes. The women's vote has become the holy grail for all political players, and every party claims to know “what women want”.

They are correct in determining that women want economic security and physical safety. Logically, that should have translated into strenuous efforts to close the gender gap: increased participation of women in the labour force, pay parity, incentivising employment of women, entrepreneurship support, access to financial services, mandatory childcare facilities in the workplace, cracking down on gender discrimination and zero tolerance of gender crimes.

Instead, we have promises of dole. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi announced this week that she intends to give Delhi's women voters a handout of Rs 1,000 per month - a nice little carrot ahead of the assembly elections in 2025. The Aam Aadmi Party, which Atishi represents, had dangled the same carrot in Punjab before the 2022 Assembly polls. The scheme wasn't implemented, but CM Bhagwant Singh Mann doubled down on the promise and said handouts of Rs 1,100 a month would commence after the 2024 general elections.