The secondary sex

Parties should have given the election ticket to more women

Women have been front and centre of the campaign for the upcoming parliamentary elections, with every party tailoring its poll promises to the needs of women, who account for nearly half the country’s 968 million voters. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the ruling party, and the principal national Opposition party, the Congress, have been in a competitive race to attract this section of the electorate. Where the BJP-led government has broad-based women-focused health, education, and other programmes, the Congress has offered the Nari Nyay scheme, promising Rs 1 lakh per annum in women’s bank accounts and 50 per cent reservation