Freebies Galore For Women But They Still Don’t Have Any Political Power

Women have emerged as political stakeholders in their own right. Politics has ceased to be male-centric because women are now seen to hold the golden key to winning elections and are, therefore, being wooed across states. And yet this “golden key” has not been matched with political empowerment. Political parties are convinced that whoever cracks the women's vote in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, and Kerala will set the playbook for the rest of the country.

Take the example of Tamil Nadu, where women outnumber men in over 90% of the 234 assembly constituencies. It is a different matter that political parties here allocated a disproportionately low number of tickets to women candidates, with the DMK, AIADMK, and Vijay’s TVK fielding just over 10% of women in these 234 constituencies. But the slew of freebies being offered, be it the strengthening of school nutrition programmes, controlling price rises, providing cheap housing, or free bus travel, all have been tom-tommed across every election rally because the direct beneficiaries of these schemes are women. Welfare schemes tied to everyday survival create durable loyalties, especially since women are running the households.

Poll promises in Kerala were no different, with parties offering women-centric freebies, including free KSRTC bus travel, Rs 1,000 monthly for college-going girls, and financial aid for women from poor households. But despite high literacy levels, Kerala’s enduring gender paradox in politics continues. Women’s representation hovers between 9 and 13 per cent across all three political fronts. Despite incremental gains over the decades, the new assembly is unlikely to see more than 8-12 women MLAs, as has been the historic record.

Assam saw a record 85.9 per cent of polling, with 86.5 per cent of female voters casting their vote against 85.3 per cent of male voters. Women outnumbered men by nearly 1.4 lakhs. The BJP brought in the Women Reservation Act 2023, which provides for 33 per cent reservation, in the middle of the ongoing assembly elections to target the female voter base. But the hypocrisy of such a move can be seen from the fact that the BJP high command exerted no pressure on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to increase women’s representation in the assembly.

The ruling BJP in Assam nominated only six women candidates, one less than in the 2021 elections. Overall, the number of women candidates has declined from a high of 91 candidates nominated in 2016 to 59 in 2026. This downward trend is worrisome given that women are out-voting men across several states.

West Bengal offers a complete contrast, with women voters having emerged as the single most decisive force, and every party knows this. In Bengal, the idea of the “M-Factor” has long been associated with Maa, Maati, and Manush—the political identity crafted by Mamata Banerjee over the years. But in 2026, that definition has been reshaped.

A fourth “M” has taken centre stage—Mahila. With 3.44 crore women voters, nearly half the electorate, the battle is no longer just about ideology or party loyalty; it is about who connects better with women—through welfare, safety, dignity or trust.

The political contest in Bengal revolved around two competing narratives. Mamata Banerjee’s argument is rooted in continuity and delivery—existing monthly transfers like Rs 1,500 to every woman member in a family offer tangible, immediate benefits backed by a proven track record. Her strategy rested on long-term trust built through sustained welfare distribution.

Modi has made a strong pitch to double this amount to Rs 3000 per month, thereby doubling the benefit currently provided by the state government.

The BJP further argued that incidents like RG Kar and Sandeshkhali have fundamentally altered perceptions around women’s safety and governance. To emphasise this point, they nominated Ratna Debnath, the mother of the RG Kar victim, from the Panihati constituency, to give symbolic weight to their campaign.

For women, therefore, one of the defining questions in this election is whether they prioritise financial support or concern themselves with issues of personal safety and dignity.

But the election here had several other undercurrents. For one, the average Bengali believes the BJP, with its juggernaut electoral machinery, did not focus sufficiently on issues that concerned their daily lives. Their campaign was dominated by Hindi-speaking politicians, who failed to connect with the common man, unlike the homegrown TMC.

Again, the issue of illegal Bangladeshi Muslim migrants may resonate across North India, but for the average Bengali, jobs and the return of industry to their state are matters of key concern.

The SIR and its deletion of thirty lakh voters have sharply divided the public. Dr Tarun Mondal, former MP and head of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), who is one of the several lakhs whose names have been deleted from the voter’s list, believes that the BJP committed a strategic mistake by conducting the SIR exercise prior to the elections.

“My feedback from the ground, and we have put up candidates across most constituencies, is that not only are genuine voters whose names have been deleted upset at this development, but their families are also upset by this development and will cast their vote against the BJP. The BJP did enjoy goodwill in the state prior to the SIR but has lost it at the expense of the TMC,” he said. He went on to add that the TMC does face anti-incumbency, with the TMC cadre indulging in the same kind of corruption practices that are associated with the ruling party at the centre.

For the BJP, these contests are a test of its ability to expand in regions where it has struggled, while for the opposition parties, these elections are a Herculean test of whether they can contain its dominance. All eyes on May 4.

Rashme Sehgal is an author and an independent journalist.

Published on: Friday, May 01, 2026, 09:25 PM IST