<p>New Delhi: Offering cash benefits ahead of elections is nothing new, with parties stepping up allocations for women voters and others.</p>.<p>With key Assembly elections approaching, the BJP is likely to announce monetary benefits for women in West Bengal and Assam.</p>.<p>The West Bengal manifesto, to be released in the first week of April, is expected to announce Rs 3,000 monthly assistance for women under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, said party leaders.</p>.<p>The party is also eyeing a similar scheme in Assam, which will be called Orunodoi. Under the scheme, women would receive Rs 1,250 per month.</p>.<p>In the first week of March, Rs 9,000 was given to over 40 lakh women beneficiaries. Of these, Rs 5,000 was disbursed as the combined monthly installments from January to April, and the remaining Rs 4,000 was a bonus for Rongali Bihu, celebrated in April.</p>.<p>The state also has its version of the Lakhpati Didi Scheme, called Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan, where women SHGs are provided Rs 1 lakh yearly or Rs 10,000 per woman to start a business. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has promised to increase the amount to Rs 25,000 per woman if he is re-elected to power.</p>.<p>In Bengal, the BJP is also promising to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 to unemployed youth and vows to clear all outstanding dearness allowances of government employees within 45 days of forming the government, sources said.</p>.<p>The party is likely to announce an industrial park built in Singur, and four new cities in the state named after Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.</p>.<p>The schemes of monetary assistance to women that the BJP has now perfected in several states were originally launched in Assam in October 2020; the Orunodoi scheme was a flagship poverty alleviation program of the state that provided a monthly stipend to families. In 2021, the amount was increased to Rs 1,000 for the beneficiaries.</p>.<p>Monetary assistance to women, especially for women from families below the poverty line, as well as widows, has proven to be a game-changer for the BJP in the past. In 2022, the party deposited Rs 500 in the accounts of more than 2 crore women in Uttar Pradesh. The scheme proved to be a game-changer and helped it retain power.</p>.<p>In Madhya Pradesh, where the party had been in power for four consecutive terms, the turning point for the came after the launch of the Ladli Behna Scheme under which then CM Shivraj Chouhan gave women Rs 1,250 monthly.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Offering cash benefits ahead of elections is nothing new, with parties stepping up allocations for women voters and others.</p>.<p>With key Assembly elections approaching, the BJP is likely to announce monetary benefits for women in West Bengal and Assam.</p>.<p>The West Bengal manifesto, to be released in the first week of April, is expected to announce Rs 3,000 monthly assistance for women under the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, said party leaders.</p>.<p>The party is also eyeing a similar scheme in Assam, which will be called Orunodoi. Under the scheme, women would receive Rs 1,250 per month.</p>.<p>In the first week of March, Rs 9,000 was given to over 40 lakh women beneficiaries. Of these, Rs 5,000 was disbursed as the combined monthly installments from January to April, and the remaining Rs 4,000 was a bonus for Rongali Bihu, celebrated in April.</p>.<p>The state also has its version of the Lakhpati Didi Scheme, called Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan, where women SHGs are provided Rs 1 lakh yearly or Rs 10,000 per woman to start a business. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has promised to increase the amount to Rs 25,000 per woman if he is re-elected to power.</p>.<p>In Bengal, the BJP is also promising to provide a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 to unemployed youth and vows to clear all outstanding dearness allowances of government employees within 45 days of forming the government, sources said.</p>.<p>The party is likely to announce an industrial park built in Singur, and four new cities in the state named after Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.</p>.<p>The schemes of monetary assistance to women that the BJP has now perfected in several states were originally launched in Assam in October 2020; the Orunodoi scheme was a flagship poverty alleviation program of the state that provided a monthly stipend to families. In 2021, the amount was increased to Rs 1,000 for the beneficiaries.</p>.<p>Monetary assistance to women, especially for women from families below the poverty line, as well as widows, has proven to be a game-changer for the BJP in the past. In 2022, the party deposited Rs 500 in the accounts of more than 2 crore women in Uttar Pradesh. The scheme proved to be a game-changer and helped it retain power.</p>.<p>In Madhya Pradesh, where the party had been in power for four consecutive terms, the turning point for the came after the launch of the Ladli Behna Scheme under which then CM Shivraj Chouhan gave women Rs 1,250 monthly.</p>