Telangana LS polls: Who will secure women-dominated Adilabad segment?
ADILABAD: Like in the past elections, the candidates of BJP, Congress and BRS are trying to attract the female voters in this Lok Sabha elections, by highlighting the welfare schemes introduced by their respective parties for the benefit of women.
This is especially so in the ST-reserved constituency of Adilabad where women voters outnumber men.
Out of 16.42 lakh voters, 8,42,000 are women and 8,00,000 are men.
Interestingly, the Congress has picked women rights activist Atram Suguna to contest from this segment.
The BJP, on the other hand, fielded a three-time MLA and former MP Godam Nagesh, while the BRS candidate Atram Sakku is also a former MLA.
Atram Suguna is believed to be banking on the popularity of schemes launched by the Congress, which is in power in the state. These include Mahalakshmi free bus travel scheme for women and the Gruha Jyothi scheme that provides free power up to 200 units.
Atram Sakku too can rely on the schemes introduced by the BRS when it was in power in the state. The BRS schemes like Kalyana Lakshmi-Shaadi Mubarak and Gruha Laxmi were aimed at extending benefits to women.
The BJP cadre believe that their candidate Godam Nagesh will have an advantage over his rivals as their party, which is in power at the Centre, has introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill, which reserves one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women.
The Centre has also been extending free domestic gas cylinders and other benefits under various welfare schemes, including the Ujjwala Yojana and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.