Santosh Singh / Indian Express
For years now, Nitish’s social engineering project has had both a caste and a caste-neutral dimension. The latter — a focus on women as a constituency — was seen first in his masterstroke of giving 50% reservation to women through the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 2006 and, subsequently, in a host of schemes such as bicycles, uniforms, scholarships and cash incentives for girl students.
Some stories from 2010, when the NDA won 206 out of the 243 seats, are now part of India’s election folklore: about girls in Class 8 asking their parents to vote Nitish because they would get bicycles in Class 9, and about an RJD voter beating a rebellious sister-in-law who insisted on supporting the JD(U). Given this background, the Chief Minister is looking again at his caste-neutral constituency of women. more
For years now, Nitish’s social engineering project has had both a caste and a caste-neutral dimension. The latter — a focus on women as a constituency — was seen first in his masterstroke of giving 50% reservation to women through the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act of 2006 and, subsequently, in a host of schemes such as bicycles, uniforms, scholarships and cash incentives for girl students.
Some stories from 2010, when the NDA won 206 out of the 243 seats, are now part of India’s election folklore: about girls in Class 8 asking their parents to vote Nitish because they would get bicycles in Class 9, and about an RJD voter beating a rebellious sister-in-law who insisted on supporting the JD(U). Given this background, the Chief Minister is looking again at his caste-neutral constituency of women. more
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