Women voters in Delhi’s Katewara village.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
As she drives her e-rickshaw through the streets of south Delhi’s Khanpur, ignoring the stares of passersby, Savitri, 49, says she would like Delhi to be a more inclusive city for women. She adds that better roads and improved law and order will be on her mind when she goes out to vote on Wednesday (February 5).
Inflation, too, is a pressing concern for her. “Free bus rides help me because I travel from Khanpur to the auto stand in Nehru Place every day,” she says. However, the promises of monthly cash transfer schemes announced by the three major political parties of the Capital — AAP (₹2,100), BJP (₹2,500), and Congress (₹2,500) — don’t appeal to her as she is sceptical about their implementation.
But for Lajjawati, 38, a domestic help who lives in Kusumpur Pahari, a slum cluster close to the affluent Vasant Kunj, the promise of ₹2,000 a month is a key issue.
“If I get around ₹2,000 in my account every month, I will be able to spend more on food for my children and manage the household better,” says the mother of four.
Her faith in the ruling party’s ability, in the event of its victory, to keep providing subsidised water and electricity and free bus rides for women is countered by her neighbour, Renu Kohri, 50, who says that even after 10 years of AAP’s rule, they still have to climb over broken roads to fetch potable water.
With women comprising nearly 46% (over 71 lakh) of Delhi’s 1.55 crore voters, the major parties have kept them at the centre of their poll pitches.
To Ajmati Begum, 40, a homemaker from Kalkaji, ideology matters more than election sops. “I will vote against religious politics,” she adds.
For younger voters like Meenakshi Sharma, 28, a resident of Kamla Nagar, representation matters, along with education, health policies and women’s safety. “It is good to see a woman candidate as you feel represented and heard.
Published – February 05, 2025 01:45 am IST