Vijayawada: The main political parties in the state have pinned their hopes on women voters to win the AP Assembly elections and are trying to attract women towards their parties. The ruling Telugu Desam hopes to get the support of 94 lakh women beneficiaries in 13 districts of the state due to the Pasupu-Kumkuma scheme, under which Rs 10,000 is offered in three instalments.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed TD cadres to campaign about the Pasupu-Kumkuma scheme among women which would help to attract all family members towards TD through the women beneficiaries. The total number of voters in 13 districts of AP are 3,49,23,171 in which 1,76,04,377 are women and 1,73,15,552 men, hence women are the deciding factor in the polls.
The Congress, which is pinning its hopes on the Special Category Status, is also trying to attract women. Recently, it changed its women’s wing president and offered 25 per cent seats in AP to women. Jana Sena chief K. Pawan Kalyan has also been concentrating on women voters and has given top priority to women leaders by appointing them to various committees. Further JS formed the Veera Mahila wing to take the party to women and hopes to get support from them. Opposition YSR Congress has been planning to highlight TD’s failures towards women’s empowerment including the failure of fulfilling the DWCRA women’s loan waiver scheme.
TD has been conducting meetings in every ward of cities, town and villages to distribute Pasupu Kumkuma in which TD MPs, MLAs, MLCs, ministers and other leaders have been participating actively and reeling out TD welfare schemes to women. The TD government even distributed three post-dated cheques to women under the Pasupu Kumkuma scheme. TD leaders including Mr Naidu asked the women to give TD labour for their services for the past four and a half years through their votes to the party.
Ministers of TD, P. Pulla Rao, N. Ananda Babu and D. Umamaheswara Rao said that Pasupu Kumkuma was a historical scheme as earlier no one had started the same and hoped that women voters would support TD as Mr Naidu had initiated the welfare scheme.
APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy said that the Congress for decades had been giving priority to women and this time too would offer 25 per cent seats to women in the AP Assembly elections. AP Women’s Congress president P. Ramani Kumari said that Congress would offer Rs 2 lakh loan waiver to women and hence Congress women leaders aimed to convince the women voters to vote for the Congress.in the elections.
JS leaders have been planning to conduct an extensive campaign with women leaders inducted into 22 JS committees to attract women voters towards the party.
