NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred 75 billion rupees ($845 million) to women in election-bound Bihar on Friday under an employment plan launched by his ruling alliance as it tries to retain power in the crucial eastern state.
India’s third most populous state and also one of its poorest, Bihar is ruled by Modi’s National Democratic Alliance and is scheduled to hold an election to its state assembly in the coming weeks.
Women voters have turned out in greater numbers in the past decade, reversing a trend of men easily outnumbering women at the polls, and political parties have competed to attract them.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party lost its outright majority in the federal parliament in last year’s national election, forcing him to rely on support from regional allies to form a government after facing a resurgent opposition, and he is currently navigating one of the most challenging stretches of his 11 years in office.
Addressing women gathered in multiple locations in the state, Modi said via video link: “I see millions of women on the screen, and their blessings are a great source of strength for all of us.
“The (women’s employment plan) is being launched today. So far, 7.5 million women have joined this scheme, and an amount of 10,000 rupees has been transferred to the bank accounts of all these women,” he said.
The plan is envisaged as giving support to women to enable their employment in small-scale ventures such as agriculture, handicrafts and other sectors, the Prime Minister’s Office said. Beneficiaries can also avail of additional financial support of up to 200,000 rupees in subsequent phases of the plan.
Modi’s ruling NDA will face the opposition Congress and its allies in Bihar, which is considered a bellwether state, along with neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and the western state of Maharashtra. ($1 = 88.7080 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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