The Congress party is all geared up for the elections in the 5 poll-bound states and is raising some important issues in their campaign. One of them is the issue of women’s safety. Sexual offenses against the women are at an all-time high and the opposition is bringing it up with full vigor.
Lately, poll-bound Madhya Pradesh has witnessed a lot of cases of rape of minors. Despite the ruling BJP thumping its chest on being the first state to pass a legislation of death penalty for rapists of victims under 12years of age, the state has seen an insanely increasing trend of sexual offenses against the minor. On last Sunday itself, rape of four minor girls was reported.
The people are angry and frustrated but the state does not seem to have any solution. State Congress media in-charge Shobha Oz has said,” It’s going to be a major election issue as it concerns half the electorate, who are worried and perturbed at the incidents of sexual harassment and rape, which have become commonplace in the state.” Terming the state as the “rape capital of not just India but the universe” she said that the government is insensitive to the atrocities against woman referring to the ordeal that the victims had to go through in lodging an FIR.
However, BJP has a different take on the issue. BJP spokesperson, Deepak Vijayergiya said that although it’s a matter of serious concern but it is not a political issue rather it is a psychological issue, defending the government’s stand on the death penalty legislation. He also said, “People’s mindset towards women will has to be changed and awareness and inculcation of right values would do it, not politics”.
Early this year in June, there was a rape case of minor in Unnao, Madhya Pradesh, of which the prime accused was a BJP MLA named Kuldeep Sengar.
Crimes against women have always been a problem but the governments have not been able to succeed in fighting with it. The issue is often politicized but no one makes it a priority. As elections come near, some politicians make new strategies to appease women. On the eve of Rakshabandhan the chief minister of MP, Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan had sent five lakh letters to women across the state on the in which he talked about the government’s pro-women schemes and asked t from ‘his sisters’ to vote for him so that he can make the state safe and prosperous for them. The recipients were supposed to send anacknowledgmentt via SMS, WhatsApp message or a missed call. It might seem a good campaign strategy but no one really cares on ground level.
However, in August this year, the women’s wing of Congress had decided to launch a countrywide campaign, called Mahila Adhikar Yatra, to “spur the suppressed anger” among women. Women constitute nearly half of India’s 1.3 billion population. The women’s wing is going to finalise a mobile app for interaction with female voters, who can make suggestions on issues and subjects to be incorporated in the Congress manifesto for the 2019 elections.
The states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Mizoram and Telangana are slated to go to polls in November end and December 1st week. The results will be out on December 11.