The stage is all set for the Delhi assembly elections and the official announcement from the Election Commission is awaited. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its national ally Congress have already announced the names of dozens of candidates. The 70-member Delhi assembly will go to the poll in January-February next year. The AAP is locked in a direct contest with the BJP with Congress hoping to make a comeback. Now, after witnessing the Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand assembly election results, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to go the BJP way to score a hat-trick in the Delhi assembly polls 2025.
BJP-led Madhya Pradesh had introduced a monthly financial aid scheme for women in 2023. The party then went on to score a thumping victory in the election held that year. Similarly, Maharashtra and Jharkhand also copied the scheme with some tweaks and it worked wonders in both the states for the ruling regime. In both the states, the opposition was pushed into the corner while the ruling party secured decisive mandates.
The Aam Aadmi Party has been watching these developments very closely and now it has announced a similar scheme where women in the national capital would get Rs 2,100 per month. The scheme has been named ‘Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana’. While the scheme has been announced with Rs 1,000 monthly aid as of now, the AAP promised to double it after the poll win. However, the money would be credited into the beneficiary account only after the polls as the dates are likely to be announced soon.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, meanwhile, said if the Model Code of Conduct comes into force after January 13, the first installment will be transferred into the bank accounts of eligible women before elections. The registration for the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojana, which was announced in the budget 2024-25 by then finance minister and now chief minister Atishi, will begin on Friday.
Arvind Kejriwal urged women residents to avail benefits of the scheme and help the party win over 60 seats. “If all women work together, we will secure more than 60 seats,” he said.
Arvind Kejriwal asserted that he was a “magician” of accounts and knew how to save money to fund the scheme. The AAP government allocated Rs 2,000 crore for the scheme under the budget. The eligibility criteria of the potential beneficiaries laid down that the woman should not be employed with the government or receive a pension, and they should not be paying GST or income tax.
The scheme is likely to benefit around 45 lakh eligible women, a significant number which the AAP believes would help the party bolster its performance in the poll, especially because of the promise to raise the amount to Rs 2,100 after the elections. In May this year, 1.52 crore eligible voters participated in the elections for the seven Lok Sabha constituencies. Each Lok Sabha constituency in Delhi consists of 10 Assembly segments.
In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP bagged all seven seats with 54.35 per cent vote share while the AAP-Congress alliance got 43% of the total polled votes.
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