Lucknow: The political battle to woo women voters in Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the big battle of 2027 has intensified even before the state govt has announced any new welfare scheme. Mere speculation about a proposed cash-assistance programme for women ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections has triggered a sharp exchange between the BJP and opposition parties, underlining the growing importance of women as a decisive electoral constituency.Political circles have been abuzz with reports that the BJP govt is considering a direct-benefit scheme under which a woman from every Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Below Poverty Line (BPL) families could receive financial assistance of up to Rs 50,000. While neither the state govt nor the BJP has officially confirmed the proposal, discussions around the plan have already dominated political discourse.According to reports, the proposed scheme could provide an initial installment of Rs 20,000 through the DBT before the 2027 Assembly polls, with the remaining Rs 30,000 released in three installments of Rs 10,000 each. Political opponents have alleged that the staggered payment structure is aimed at creating an electoral incentive for voters to back the BJP again.Sensing the political traction the proposal could generate, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav moved quickly to counter the narrative. Reiterating an announcement he made earlier this year, Yadav said that if the SP forms the next govt, it would provide Rs 40,000 annually to women, with the amount increasing every year.Questioning the BJP’s intentions, Yadav asked why such a scheme had not been introduced during the party’s decade in power if the objective was genuinely women’s empowerment. In a post on X, he said: “The BJP has nothing left except money to win elections. That too is the BJP’s ill-gotten money, which the religious-minded women of UP will never accept.”The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party also accused the BJP of attempting to attract votes through cash incentives. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai described the reported proposal as a “desperate attempt” to win over women voters, while AAP MP Sanjay Singh said similar promises made elsewhere by the BJP had often remained unfulfilled.Direct cash transfers to women have emerged as a major electoral strategy across party lines in recent years. Several states have launched women-focused assistance programmes, including Ladki Bahin scheme in Maharashtra, Lakshmir Bhandar in West Bengal, Ladli Behna Yojana in Madhya Pradesh, Orunodoi in Assam, Subhadra in Odisha and Mahtari Vandan in Chhattisgarh. Political analysts also point to Bihar, where a women-centric cash assistance programme was widely credited with helping the ruling NDA consolidate support among female voters.The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh has already rolled out a series of women-focused schemes, including Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana, widow and destitute pensions, financial incentives for girls’ education, reservation in police recruitment and free bus travel for women on select festivals. As the BJP sharpens its outreach to women, youth, farmers and the poor, the opposition’s PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) strategy also seeks to consolidate key social groups ahead of 2027.With women increasingly shaping electoral outcomes, any welfare initiative targeted at them is likely to remain at the centre of political contestation. Even without an official announcement, the reported Rs 50,000 proposal has already become a talking point in UP’s evolving election narrative.
