India's alpha-male Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces three formidable women looking to spoil his chances of winning a new term in elections beginning next week.
'Big sis'
Feisty and fiery Mamata Banerjee is the first female chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal — home to more people than Germany — where Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs to do well.
The diminutive 64-year-old is one of Modi's most vociferous critics and has been working to cobble together an anti-Modi alliance.
“We can tell you one thing, that we are all together against the BJP government to save the nation,” she says.
Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress party rules the roost in West Bengal, has succeeded in keeping the BJP at bay so far despite the growing popularity of Modi.
The former national railways minister known as “didi”, or big sister, enjoys a mass following not least because of her humble upbringing and lowbrow style.
“Banerjee is a very important leader. She is a struggler and a fighter to the core,” Manisha Priyam, a Delhi-based political analyst, told AFP.
“If she does well in the state, she will be an important player in the formation of a government.”
A budding poet, painter and author — Banerjee dons many hats. While her fans swear by her oil paintings and poems, critics deride her work as trash.
Lower-caste champion
Known as the “Dalit Queen”, Mayawati, 63, has had a colourful career as champion of lower caste Dalits. She wields considerable influence in 200-million-strong Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and the election's biggest prize.
Her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was decimated in the 2014 polls but she has stitched up an alliance with her sworn enemy, the Samajwadi Party.
Analysts blamed her 2014 rout on her penchant for extravagance — she once sent her private jet to pick up a pair of sandals according to leaked US cables — and a controversy over building concrete parks full of statues of herself.
But if her party performs well this time, she could once again play a pivotal role in coalition negotiations.
She has hit the right notes so far, calling out the BJP for its “divide and rule communal politics” while cosying up with her once arch-rival Akhilesh Yadav who helms the Samajwadi Party.
“She does have a cadre which has been built up astutely. No politics can go ahead in UP by disrespecting her. No one can afford to take her lightly,” said Priyam.
Indira reborn?
The youngest scion of the famed Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra entered the family business of politics in January after years of steering clear — and has made a splash.
And what could be a better battleground for the charismatic younger sister of PM-hopeful Rahul Gandhi than Uttar Pradesh — the Hindu heartland where Modi has his core support base.
Priyanka, 47, has been tasked with reviving the Congress party in the state, where it was thrashed in 2014 polls — winning just two of the 80 parliamentary seats in contrast to BJP's 71.
She seems to have taken the challenge head-on, launching her campaign in Modi's constituency of Varanasi on a motorboat that traversed the Ganges, a river revered by Hindus.
The symbolism was not lost on analysts, saying her move was aimed at snuffing out criticism that her Congress party has been ignoring majority Hindu voters and appeasing India's 170 million Muslims.
Her fans say her common touch, as well as her appearance, are reminiscent of Indira Gandhi, her grandmother who was India's first woman prime minister — and a divisive figure assassinated in 1984.
Ishita Mukherjee
How are Indian women living under Modi rule? This is a government of promises and advertisements, owing allegiance to corporate capital. Indian women have no place in the new face of the country created by the government. Gender discrimination is one of the pillars on which the government stands. Indian democracy has been fighting patriarchy throughout, but the one year experience of Modi government saw the bitterest form of discrimination against women with a dangerous combination of neoliberalism and patriarchy. When the government came to power, lots of promises were showered, but the experience of a state ruled by Modi before he became Prime Minister spoke otherwise. Under his rule Gujarat had a falling sex ratio, stagnant female literacy and falling female employment rate, clearly showing that women’s development was not an issue of importance in Modi government in Gujarat. When the same person became Prime Minister, India’s experience has been worse.
What has happened to Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament? Indian politics has been struggling with the Bill for 18 years. When BJP was in opposition they spoke for the bill, but after coming to power the Bill was not placed in Lok Sabha. This shows the true commitment of the government towards women’s issues. All that the Modi Sarkar had to say was that the Bill will be tabled after careful consideration, which means non-commitment to the agenda of women’s political leadership.
There was a cut in the allocation for the Department of Women and Child Development, part of the general withdrawal of the State from the social sector. The concerned minister herself wrote two letters to Finance Minister regarding slashing of the budget of the department to half in nominal terms. When the left parties had criticized the cuts, the same Minister had supported the budget. She is now begging for money as she realizes that her Ministry has been reduced to a non-entity. This is one of the causes behind deplorable women’s condition in the country.
At the same time when Prime Minister is boasting on the announcement of “malnutrition free India”, there has been a reported shortfall of Rs.109 billion in the ICDS programme. Such is the hypocrisy of the government. In the budget allocations under ICDS and Midday Meal Scheme were severely cut. 7067 operational projects of ICDS and 13.42 lakh Anganwadi centres are facing closure now. It was mentioned in the budget that if revenue receipts increased then there would be more allocation to these programmes. This is the discriminatory attitude of the government towards the scheme. Midday Meal scheme is also facing threat. Anganwadi workers, Midday Meal cooks and Mahila Samakhya workers, mostly women, are facing the threat of getting thrown out.
Another flagship programme of the government: “beti bachao, beti padhao” is also under threat. The government relies on advertisement and marketing to create illusions in people’s minds. A slogan was coined but there is no actual work. Allocation for girl’s education was actually reduced by 8.3%. Only Rs.100 crore was allocated, which is a sheer mockery. The programme was aimed at reducing sex-selective abortion, girl child education and more state care of adolescent girls. But the financial burden was shifted to the states, which are under financial stress already. No doubt the programmes will suffer.
The sinister political game in all this is clear. While the Prime Minister gains popularity by spreading pro-women slogans through media, discrimination is strengthened through budgetary cuts. The states can be blamed for non-performance.
The anti-women thrust of Modi government does not stop with only cuts in budgetary allocation. The gender politics of this government is pronounced discrimination across caste, class and community. BJP ideologically uses the discriminatory gender perception to pursue the communal goal. The propaganda of “love jihad” is such a tool. This has affected the freedom to choose partner by the women of the country. A communal campaign was carried on in the name of disallowing inter-community marriages. Women’s right to live with dignity is not recognized. Women were commoditized only to be protected by the family. Family is the space for women. In state sponsored advertisements where public toilets are to be built, the reason for these toilets are not right to health and sanitation for women of the country, but toilets are to be built only to keep women indoors. The right to education, right to health, right to live a respectful life is yet to be recognized.
Female employment is falling. Wage discrimination between men and women workers in several sectors is increasing. Gender discrimination has been reported in worsening conditions of work, lack of access to credit and social security. But the government is not bothered about these issues affecting working women. There is no policy, no slogan from the PM on right to work, right to social security of working women.
Nirbhaya Fund was to take care of women who faced violence but the government has not allocated sufficient funds for this. The political party ruling the government works on the regressive ideology of protection of women by the family only and not by the state and society. Sex-selective abortion, infanticide, denial of adequate nutrition, lack of access to health care and education of girl child, child marriage, sexual harassment in public places and workplace, sexual abuse, acid attacks, rape, domestic violence, dowry murders, trafficking, violence due to sexual orientation, widowhood, old age, disability, honour killings are all on the rise in the country. This environment is facilitated by the state. Despite the enactment of laws for which this government is not at all responsible, the implementation of the laws is hardly getting state help.
On April 4,2019 hundreds of women carried out a march in Delhi against the anti-Dalit (the formerly untouchable castes), anti-worker and anti-women policies of the far-right Hindu nationalist government of India. The protesters marched under the slogan, “If women will not rise, oppression will.”
Noted activist Shabnam Hashmi, said the ‘Women March for Change’ will be carried out in 100 different places across 20 States of India. “The march is an open call to voters, especially women, to exercise their vote wisely and counter the blatant attack on the pluralistic idea of India, the already shrinking space of dissent, [and] to save our institutions and our democratic character,” Hashmi said. Parliamentary elections in India begin on April 11 and conclude on May 23. The process will determine the fate of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Hundreds of women from across sectors marched, arm in arm. Those in the march came from all walks of society, including domestic workers, manual scavengers university students and members of civil society. They sang songs and raised slogans, sending out a message to the Modi government that they would not accept the politics of polarization, which seeks to pit the majority Hindu community against minorities..
“This government led by Narendra Modi has attacked the rights of women, with its campaigns being nothing but an eyewash. The funds allotted for a number of schemes were mainly used for publicity. Today, the women have finally come out openly, to call out the government”, another participant, Amrita Johri, told NewsClick.
For Swastika Sanghamitra, who works on Dalit rights, “The women from the marginalized sections, i.e. Dalits and the Muslim women, have suffered the most violence under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.” Another activist added, “Not just the women, the violence against the minority (LGBTQ) community and trans-men and women has seen an unprecedented increase, but the government has maintained silence on all these matters.”
Apeksha Priyadarshini, who took part in the march, said, “[The government] has defended and fielded candidates with records of sexual harrasment and rapes,” she added.
Ahead of the elections, the “Women for Change” campaign is planning to reach out to as many women voters as possible in order to motivate them to vote for the candidates who can do justice to their issues and ensure the removal of the “patriarchal and fascist government.”
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