Nitish champions women's cause in Bihar as Tejashwi tries to shrug off legacy

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) Support for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among the state’s women voters is seen as a major factor for his government’s earlier electoral successes. Though Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav -- projected as the Opposition Mahagathbandhan’s Chief Ministerial candidate -- has been trying to include schemes aimed at women’s empowerment, he carries a legacy contrary to the cause.

It was the role of his father, Lalu Prasad, in opposing the Women’s Quota Bill in the late 1990s that led to stalling its passage in Parliament. With Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh lending support, and backed by only 37 MPs, he deftly managed leaders in other parties, including the Congress, to craft a way to deter the move.

Interestingly, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had lent her full support to the Bill.

Even as Tejashwi tries to undo the past, Nitish Kumar introduced development projects aimed at women’s empowerment and self-reliance in his two-decade tenure at the helm of power in the state. And while leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state, he has received support from the Union government in his mission.

The ruling bloc’s joint manifesto, released in Patna on Friday, October 31, bears testimony to this effort from the NDA partners.

Among the pledges is the Chief Minister's women's employment scheme that provides financial assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh, along with the promise of ensuring one crore women turn into “Lakhpati Didis”.

The Lakhpati Didi Yojana was launched on August 15, 2023, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aims to uplift women, particularly those associated with Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

Earlier, it was the Narendra Modi-led government that ensured the passage of the women's reservation through The Constitution (One Hundred Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, in Parliament. The bill lay in cold storage after the failure of the then NDA government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to steer the Women’s Quota Bill in Parliament in 1998, facing stiff resistance from Lalu and Mulayam.

There was a ruckus in the Lok Sabha during the motion, with RJD MPs tearing copies of the Bill. The duo found support in Sharad Yadav, then a Janata Dal MP. In 1997, Sharad Yadav, while arguing against the Women’s Quota Bill, controversially used the term “parkati auratein” (women with hair cut short) to define its ultimate beneficiaries. He was seeking caste-based reservation within the Women’s Bill. However, after he joined the Janata Dal (United), Nitish Kumar convinced him to at least allow the passage of the Bill in the form it was and then raise the issue of quota within quota.

The Chief Minister has later pointed out how he went on to introduce quotas for women from all sections of the society in the state’s panchayats.

The impact of that decision is said to have later changed Sharad Yadav’s stand. All this time, Nitish Kumar maintained it was the only issue that the two top JD(U) leaders held a disagreement, which he used to call an “honest difference” of opinion.

During his long reign in Bihar, Nitish Kumar introduced several schemes to empower women. Among these were 50 per cent reservation in panchayats, 35 per cent in government jobs, “cycle yojana” for schoolgirls, and introducing self-help groups like Jeevika.

These helped him build a strong support base among women electors. Though Tejashwi has offered permanency of jobs for Bihar’s close to four lakh Jeevika community mobilisers and contractual employees, promised education and employment for girls, and provide houses, adequate ration and incomes for women, he still has to shed a legacy he carries. His efforts will be answered with the November 14 mandate -- whether he can or cannot.

--IANS

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