With a staggering 47,154,188 registered women voters as opposed to a total of 46,723,194 male voters, their pivotal role and influence cannot be underestimated. The Election Commission of India's (ECI) figures reveal a significant surge in registered voters, with over 96.88 crore electors nation wide, marking a six percent increase since 2019. Particularly note worthy is the rise in registration among women and youth voters, a trend not lost on political strategists.

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Led by the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi the BJP is going all out to woo this powerful constituency and the battleground for BJP's women centric moves has shifted to West Bengal, the only state ruled by a woman-Ms Mamata Banerjee. As the nation prepares to celebrate International Women's Day on Friday, March 8, Mr Modi is expected to spearhead a women's rally organised by the BJP's Mahila Morcha.

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Anticipation runs high as speculation mounts regarding potential "big announcements" targeting women.Timing of the hurried passage of the Women's Reservation Bill is a clear indication of the "importance of women voters for the BJP," a senior party functionary said.

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While the BJP intensifies its efforts to court this influential demographic, the Opposition parties are strategically aligning themselves to narrow the gap and counter the BJP's women outreach. In the only Congress ruled state in north India, Himachal Pradesh, the party announced that Rs 800 crore would be spent annually for the "Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojna". In Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) announced Rs 1000 for women above the age of 18. While it was Priyanka Gandhi who declared a sop for the Congress it was Atishi for the AAP who made the announcement during her budget speech yesterday.

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Political experts, however, indicated that the Modi led BJP "maintains a substantial lead in their efforts to court this crucial demographic."

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While the Prime Minister is making efforts to personally interact with women voters in states, there has been no such moves from the top Congress leaders so far. Political strategist turned activist, Prashant Kishor in one of his interactions with the media did not find "any logic" behind Rahul Gandhi's much hyped Nyay Yatra. He said-"This could be the worst time for you to leave the head quarters and go for a yatra." It may be pointed out that while Rahul Gandhi walked across the country, his party and INDIA bloc continued to lose key allies and legislators.

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Some of the Congress leaders felt that the party was "losing precious time" in consolidating its base among the women electorates. It was pointed out that BJP's out reach was not merely confined to Hindu women. In Uttar Pradesh the BJP has been organising programmes to reach out to the Muslim women with slogans like "Shukriya Modi Bhaijaan" and "Na duri hain na khai hain, Modi hamara bhai hain(There is no distance between us nor any wedge, Modi is our brother)."