Delhi CM Kejriwal woos women voters at townhall ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged women voters to support the Aam Aadmi Party during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and promised them that all women above the age of 18 will be provided ₹1,000 under the “Mahila Samman Samaroh” scheme to make them financially independent.
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Kejriwal was speaking at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Civic Center during a townhall organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government, following the scheme presented in the 2024-25 budget outlay of the government. In the weeks to come Kejriwal is likely to hold several townhall meetings.
The CM asked the women to vote for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc candidates and convince those supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in their areas to do the same as the AAP has focussed on welfare schemes for the citizens. “Many are chanting Modi’s name but you have to set them right. You have to convince your families to vote for me, for AAP,” Kejriwal said.
The ₹1,000 per month financial assistance was announced in the 2024-25 budget in which a provision of ₹2,000 crore has been made for the scheme. Delhi finance minister Atishi has said that the scheme is likely to be rolled out from September. In the run-up to the 2020 assembly elections, the AAP chief held several townhalls where he interacted with people, urging them to vote for AAP.
Kejriwal also asked women to campaign for Kejriwal in their areas. “I don’t have money. Had I focused on earning money and taking bribes, I wouldn’t have been able to make the bus tickets free for you. I wouldn’t have given you this ₹1,000. I have saved the government’s money to distribute it to you. Now it is your responsibility to fight the election for me and support me,” Kejriwal said.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said it was shocking to see Kejriwal trying to lure women voters through freebies while Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks of women empowerment and self-help employment.
Read here: AAP stands for ‘vikas’, BJP for ‘vinash’: Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi assembly
“During the last nine years of power in Delhi, Kejriwal has done nothing to promote employment opportunities for women. All he has done is offer free bus travel in broken DTC buses whose number on roads is too little in comparison to the need. He is misleading the women with ₹1,000 per month scheme, while the Modi government is working for social, education, economic and political development of women,” Kapoor said.