It was Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi who made the announcement, on video conference, from New Delhi. Though the scheme is named the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, it was not chief minister Nitish Kumar but the Prime Minister who announced ₹10,000 each to 7.5 million women in poll-bound Bihar to kickstart livelihood activities. The BJP is the junior partner in a coalition alliance with Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) in a state assembly election. “It’s clear the BJP wants control and the Prime Minister wants his imprint on the developmental model in Bihar since 2006-07 under Nitish Kumar,” said Manisha Priyam, Sir Louis Matheson distinguished visiting professor, Monash University.

It’s a model that has, so far, paid rich dividends to Nitish Kumar, who has survived 20 years of incumbency, mainly on the strength of the women vote and a slew of schemes targeting women. Among the schemes are: Free bicycles to secondary school........

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