BJP and BJD lock horns over women voters to tip the scales in Odisha

The six Lok Sabha seats of- Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Bhubaneswar is expected to witness high-voltage clash as BJD and BJP have fielded strong candidates.

As Odisha votes for the simultaneous polls to the 147-member Assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats in four phases that began on May 13, ruling Biju Janata Dal and the principal challenger Bharatiya Janata Party are scrambling to win over the women voters who, leaders of both the parties admit, are key to determining the poll outcome in the state.

The six Lok Sabha seats of- Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Puri, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Bhubaneswar is expected to witness high-voltage clash as BJD and BJP have fielded strong candidates. The six constituencies will vote on May 25.

BJD’s emphasis on women voters

The regional party has pinned hope on women welfare schemes like ‘Mission Shakti’, which aims to empower women financially through self-help groups (SHGs) and entrepreneurship revolution. Initiatives like Mamata and KALIA have also provided financial assistance and support to women in need, further solidifying the party’s appeal to women voters.

The BJD has systematically nurtured women SHGs by making them partners in all government contracts, providing salary benefits and facilitating easy bank loans.

Gradually, the women SHGs were handed over all government contracts from running buses to managing village ponds and from looking after COVID-19 temporary centres in 2020 to collecting taxes.

High-stakes battle in Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the poster boy of the BJP in Odisha, is up against Biju Janata Dal (BJD) general-secretary (organisation) Pranab Prakash Das, the second most important man in the party hierarchy. It is a prestige battle for both Pranab Prakash Das and Pradhan.

Pradhan, who is entering the poll fray in the state after a gap of 15 years , is well aware that a defeat could severely dent his image as the face of the BJP in the state, and impact his standing in the party at the national level.

Women voters outnumbering men in successive assembly polls

Women voters have outnumbered men in turnout since 2000, and this is perceived as a key factor behind the BJD’s victory in the state polls for five straight terms. As it fights to retain power for the sixth straight term, the BJD touts the financial and social empowerment of women through its Mission Shakti programme as a testament of its women-centric policies.

In 2014, the turnout of women voters was 74.5% as against 73.2% of men. In 2019, the gap got wider with women voter voter turnout being 74.2%. The turnout of men, in comparison, was 71.8%.

Making women-led development a centerpiece of its election manifesto

The BJP has made PM Narendra Modi’s agenda of women-led development a centrepiece of its election manifesto. “Women empowerment is the priority of the Modi government. We have already announced our commitment to have 25 lakh (2.5 million) lakhpati didis (millionaire sisters), increase the monthly salary of each anganwadi worker to Rs 12,000 and raise the salary of anganwadi helpers to Rs 8,000 per month and start Mo Medhabi Jhia Jojana for BPL girl students that will provide an assurance certificate of ₹2 lakh at the birth of a girl child that can be cashed at the age of 21,” Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is contesting from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, recently said while addressing a rally.