Deputy chief minister of Karnataka, D.K. Shivakumar, on Wednesday said the sole objective of the guarantees made famous by his government and now being replicated nationally was to empower women without eyeing their votes.

He dispelled the popular perception that the Congress was targeting women as a vote bank by promising guarantees such as the Mahalakshmi Scheme in the party manifesto.

“Look, we had launched Streeshakthi Self Help Groups during the tenure of S.M. Krishna (as chief minister from 1999 to 2004). The day I assumed charge as the state Congress president, I had very clearly said that our focus would be on empowering youth, women and farmers as they need support,” recalled Shivakumar.

“Now families are suffering under the weight of spiralling price rise. We always say ‘hennu kutumbadha kannu (women are the eyes of the family)’. So we need to empower women,” he said during a media interaction here.

Shivakumar reminded everyone that the beneficiaries of the five guarantees — most of them women-centric — are not just supporters of the Congress. “So far 1.20 crore women have registered under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. We don’t look at their political leanings,” he said, rubbishing the argument that the Congress was trying to woo women with such schemes.