To start her campaign, Mahua Moitra asked the people of “Lakshmir Bhandar”. Same goes with Kirti Azad. Marwah and Kirti are just a few who do it but all other 40 Lok Sabha candidates follow suit. Trinamool Congress In West Bengal.
Sources in the TMC said they are confident that Rakesh Bandar will be a game-changer in the ongoing seven-phase general elections.
As per them, even Trinamool contestants told the party that the scheme is making huge difference.
The Mamata Banerjee government introduced Lakshmir Bhandar in 2021; under this initiative, women belonging to general category receive Rs 500 monthly stipend while scheduled caste/scheduled tribe women get Rs 1000. Nevertheless, TMC raised the amount allowed to women of general category up to 1k upon this year’s state budget and for SC/ST group, increased it at a rate of Rs1200.
Officials said so far, this program has covered over 2.11 million beneficiaries thus positively transforming numerous lives of women throughout the state.
Party insiders say there was definitely nothing like what happened at Sandesh Khali which can change everything .
Half of Bengal’s voters are women and TMC’s motive is to attract them.
“Mamata Banerjee came up with a path-breaking scheme called Lakshmir Bhandar,” said Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, a Trinamool MP speaking on News18. Women started earning money and now their voices were heard in families. How could women be fooled by false narratives from Sandesh Khali? And also , when we used to campaign people would introduce us as Lakshmir Bhandar instead of our real names . Instead they choose Didi because they knew when Didi will stay here then rights for women will remain safe.
State government data shows that funding for Lakshmi Bandar has increased significantly to Rs 14,400.5 crore in the fiscal year 2024-25, accounting for about 4% of the total budget allocation.
TMC sources said some internal surveys showed that 87 per cent women believe they will benefit greatly if Lakshmir Bhandar continues for five years, reiterating the concepts of mobility and security. As a result, the party has made this program their central theme; everything else is secondary. However, it will also be highlighted that Sandesh Khali incident seems to have turned around, but TMC’s campaign will be dominated by Rakesh Bandar.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had earlier recommended President Drupadi Murmu to consider imposing presidential rule in West Bengal amid reports of atrocities and violence against women in Sandeshkhali district. Several women from Sandeshkari on Thursday alleged that a local leader of the BJP made them sign blank documents that were later filled as sexual assault complaints.
Subsequently, NCW chief Rekha Sharma wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday expressing concerns over reports that several women in Sandeshkhali were allegedly forced by TMC workers. to sexual assault by associates of now-arrested Trinamool member Sheikh Shajahan.
This time people are not going to accept their false theory because Bangladesh is not safe .All they can do is buy women like this one as stated by BJP MP Locket Chatterjee talking about Rakesh Bandar.” But it matters whose honor is at stake.
