Modi Targets Women Voters to Help Him Stay in Power
- Wants to reserve parliament seats for women, boost welfare
- Pew study shows women are more critical of Modi’s policies
Women carry goods on their head in New Delhi, India, on Nov. 10.
Photographer: Anindito Mukherjee/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
As more women go out to vote in India while their male counterparts stay home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is shifting attention and planning a raft of female-focused policies before the 2019 national election.
Following the popular roll out of cooking gas for rural families that frees women from smoky woodfires, Modi is pushing to outlaw so-called instant divorce in Muslim communities. He’s also keen to reserve seats for women in parliament and backroom consultations have begun, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.