Lucknow: BJP on Monday sharpened its women-centric poll pitch, drawing a comparison between the representation of women in the Modi govt and the previous Congress-led UPA govt.In a coordinated social media campaign, BJP’s UP unit highlighted the growing prominence of women on key posts under its govt. The party claimed that since 2014 when Modi govt came to office, women have occupied 33 top constitutional and political offices, including the President, three CMs, 18 Union ministers, eight governors, and three other key posts.In contrast, UP had only 23 women holding comparable positions between 2004 and 2014, BJP said using the comparison to reinforce its narrative of women’s empowerment ahead of elections.BJP claimed that women’s representation in state cabinets too has expanded significantly under its govts. It said 41 women have served as ministers in BJP-governed states since 2014, compared with just four in Congress-run states during the same period. In Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath govt currently has five women ministers — one cabinet minister, one minister of state (independent charge), and three MoS.BJP noted that it has governed 17 states since 2014, while Congress has been in office in only four states: Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh. Of these, Kerala and Telangana have two women ministers each, while Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh have none, the party said.Stepping up its attack, BJP accused Congress of paying only lip service to women’s empowerment. “There is no shortage of talk about Nari Shakti, but in Congress-run states, women remain mere tokens. This is paper feminism at best. The numbers expose the hollowness of Congress claims, while the BJP has ensured women’s real participation in govt,” the party said.The party also targeted Congress leadership over “crass remarks” on Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. The reference was to a recent event in which Rahul Gandhi hugged party colleague Sandeep Dikshit while mocking PM Modi’s foreign policy, a move BJP claimed reflected the opposition’s disregard for women leaders on the global stage.BJP further accused Congress of not allowing its women representatives to speak in Parliament. The party said that while women parliamentarians make up 13% of Congress MPs, they accounted for only 7.4% of the party’s combined participation in debates and questions. BJP claimed its women’s voice ratio stood at 1.16, compared with Congress’s 0.57. “Are women in Congress afraid to speak up?” BJP asked.Congress was quick to hit back. Party national spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh asked why BJP has never appointed a state party president in states like UP.“The language used by many BJP members for women in the past is also not hidden,” he tod TOI, asserting that BJP tends to divert people’s focus from burning issues to suit their political convenience.Analysts said BJP is strategically weaving a women-centric narrative ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections to counter the opposition’s caste-based agenda while tapping into a cross-cutting voter demographic.Sources in BJP said the party views women as a distinct voting group that cuts across traditional caste and religious identities, allowing it to rebuild its voter base beyond rigid caste arithmetic.The return of Smriti Irani as national general secretary is also being seen as an effort to strengthen the party’s oratory punch and grassroots connect with women voters in Uttar Pradesh.
