BJP takes women achievers' suggestions for manifesto for Lok Sabha polls

MUMBAI: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the social media wing of the BJP has reached out to women achievers from diverse fields, seeking their views and suggestions to be incorporated in the party's manifesto.

The party said the exercise was carried out to ensure a holistic approach before finalising the manifesto.

Priti Gandhi, BJP Mahila Morcha's national in-charge for social media, said the party sought insights from Padma awardees, sports icons, doctors, lawmakers, theatre artistes, educationists, environmentalists, agriculturists, women from the armed forces and war widows.

"Keeping in mind the importance of this document (manifesto), we wanted to ensure a holistic view before finalising the manifesto. For that, we thought of inviting women of substance and women achievers from various fields to share their insights and suggestions in their areas of expertise," she said.

"We reached out to women across the country through social media and then contacted them personally," Gandhi added.

Padma Shri awardee Subhasini Mistry, who became a widow at the age of 23 years with four children and struggled in life working as a housemaid, a manual labourer, but went on to build a charitable hospital for the poor; Kanchanmala Pandey, a visually-impaired international swimming champion , who won despite all odds, were some of the women achievers whom the BJP team interacted with, Gandhi said.

"It has been a very humbling experience to get to know about their struggles. We believe that these people can give us the right feedback about how things must function," she said.

The other women achievers, who gave their suggestions for the manifesto include National Award-winning actor Divya Dutta, Padma Shri awardee, champion of rural and tribal women development and organic farming expert Janak Palta McGilligan, renowned psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria, dean of Yoga and Life Sciences division at Arogyadham, Swami Vivekanand Yoga Anusandhana Sanstha (SVYAS) R Nagarathna.

Director at Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Mirai Chatterjee, internationally acclaimed wrestler Babita Phogat also gave their views, Gandhi said.

"We, at the BJP, acknowledge the fact that throughout history, the central role of women in society has ensured stability, progress and long-term development of nations.

The Modi government's record number of schemes, formulated especially for women in its tenure, tells a lot about how seriously we take them," she added.