Delhi goes to vote on February 5 in the much-awaited Assembly elections. While the city is abuzz, separate schemes are orchestrated to woo women voters, a big deciding factor this election season. They are being lured by cash transfers, free bus rides, pension schemes, guarantees, and the dream of a respected future. Amongst all the chaos, the question remains: what will the women of Delhi vote for?
Women electors emerged as deciding factors in the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh elections.
Women electors emerged as deciding factors in the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh elections. Using other states’ cues, women-directed incentives and schemes have taken center stage in the Delhi elections. Politicians are making tall promises to influence Delhi’s 71,73,952 women electors.
A sharp increase in women voters in the Delhi elections
With schemes like direct cash transfers and allowances for pregnant women, more and more women are registering as electors. In the 2024-2025 Delhi budget, the AAP government promised to provide Rs. 1,000 per month to every woman above the age of 18. Weeks before the elections, the government decided to increase the amount to Rs. 2,100 if voted back to power.
The Congress party has designed a ‘Pyaari Didi Yojana‘ under the same tune, promising an aid of Rs. 2,500 per month to women above the age of 18 years. The BJP government that denounced AAP’s cash schemes and free services, calling them rewaris, has also decided to follow suit. It promises a cash-to-women assistance program offering Rs. 2,500 to women voters above 18 years of age. The first part of its manifesto, released on January 17, offers pregnant women financial assistance of Rs. 21,000 and 6 nutritional kits.
The BJP, under its Mahila Sashaktikaran Sankalp (Promise for Women Empowerment), has offered gas cylinders to Delhi women voters at Rs. 500 per cylinder and 1-1 free cylinder on Holi and Diwali. It also promises the women working as house help life insurance of Rs 10 Lakhs and paid maternity leave.
While all the schemes sound lucrative, they have forced the women to enroll themselves as voters as the programs are reserved only for Delhi women voters. With such promises, the turnout of women voters has increased from 0.17 in 2019 to 0.23 in 2024 polls. The Delhi CEO cited that following such tall promises, Delhi has witnessed an unprecedented rush for new registration since December 16, 2024, as more than 5.1 lakh women have submitted Form-6 for enrolment in the election rolls.
Delhi has witnessed an unprecedented rush for new registration since December 16, 2024, as more than 5.1 lakh women have submitted Form-6 for enrolment in the election rolls.
During the special summary revision, it was claimed that 3.09 lakh new voters had already been added to the electoral rolls. The Chief Election Officer said, ‘This trend of unprecedented increase of Form-6, and that too after 20 days of the last date of receiving claims and objections as scheduled in SSR-2025, is unexpected and needs greater scrutiny.‘
With more women asserting their weight in political representation, the election promises have changed tune. Following the trend of more women’s turnout, the female-to-male elector ratio has improved remarkably, from 91 females per 100 males in 2014 to 95 females per 100 males in 2024. The difference between male and female turnout is increasingly reduced; as of January 6, the new number of male electors was 70, 873 compared to 96,426 new female electors.
Poor representation of women in Delhi elections
Social activist and human rights campaigner Shabnam Hashmi observes that women have their own way of thinking and voting according to their will. Women earlier were voting according to the command of their patriarchs, but they now have a voice and are exercising their right to vote. Seema Bhaskaran of the non-profit Transform Rural India states that the women’s elector’s identity as a political actor has become more pronounced, and the right to vote among women is more enhanced.
While much is being said and done for the women voters, their political representation is questionable. Political parties work on free schemes but shy away from giving any equity to women. If elected to power, they can make their own policies and perhaps work toward equality rather than charity. Delhi has witnessed many prominent women on the chair, but the overall political representation doesn’t resonate with this sentiment.
The number of women contestants in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections has shown a marked increase compared to 2020. A total of 699 candidates are in the race for Delhi elections in 2025, out of which 96 are women, whereas in 2020, only 76 women contested out of 672 candidates. With increasing attention on women voters, the representation has improved, but we are still far from equal participation.
Among the major political parties, both the Bharatiya Janta Party and Aam Aadmi Party have fielded nine female candidates each, while the Congress party has seven women nominees.
Among the major political parties, both the Bharatiya Janta Party and Aam Aadmi Party have fielded nine female candidates each, while the Congress party has seven women nominees. The numbers might appear low, but they have increased remarkably from 2020.
No change is free!
The parties are more concerned about garnering enough votes than increasing the participation of women. Freebies and cash assistance schemes can incur spontaneous reactions but fail to bring about any real change. In a conversation with Newslaundry, Seema Bhaskaran said, ‘While freebies doled out for political gains may be harmful, digital bank transfers have benefitted women by reducing patriarchal barriers within families.’
Poonam Kaushik of Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan says, ‘Women need equal work opportunities and involvement in economic activities, but parties focus only on short-term relief like Rs. 2,100 to win votes.‘ Reflecting on the sorry state of affairs, she notes, ‘Everyday goods remain expensive, marginalised workers earn low wages, and workplace harassment is ignored – cash transfers overshadow such issues.‘
Shabnam Hashmi rightly says, ‘An extra Rs. 2000 in the family means a lot, but this is not a long-term solution. Employment and scholarships are what will truly empower women.’ The solution to the gender problem in Delhi is not a cash transfer scheme. The taint of being an unsafe city can only be wiped out when women feel more included in the governing structure of Delhi.
The free schemes burden the state budgets and reinforce the idea that the votes can be bought for a meager amount.
Misogyny shines through women-centric schemes
On January 15, in a public meeting, BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri compares the Delhi Chief Minister and AAP rival from Kalkaji seat, Atishi, to a ‘hirni‘(doe). In a previous comment, he also targeted Atishi for dropping her surname, Marlena, and using Singh instead. A city that talks about women’s empowerment and promises monetary compensation has leaders go on stage and disrespect women on the grounds of their race, surname, and body. He went to the extent of comparing Delhi’s roads to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s cheeks.
Bhaskaran observes, ‘Within the political party ecosystem, there is no gender sensitization. It is difficult for women to climb the ladder unless they come from a family with a political background.’
Bhaskaran observes, ‘Within the political party ecosystem, there is no gender sensitization. It is difficult for women to climb the ladder unless they come from a family with a political background.’ The new women-centric politics only enables women to vote in lieu of money and schemes but doesn’t empower them to make policies and bring real change.
In the attempt to gain a political majority, women voters have been objectified and how. They are coaxed, cajoled, and given financial aid, but how will the women of Delhi vote? What would they want?
In general conversations, women demand real change and better roads, but at the jist of it, monetary compensation is a deciding factor for them. For women who are left to manage the kitchen and growing inflation, a meager monthly amount seems to help the women voters. They have very recently stepped out of the shadows of their husbands or fathers while deciding who to vote for, and it is still a long journey to reach the pinnacle of equity and equality.
