Women voters in the poll-bound state of Jharkhand have reasons to be happy as ruling coalition partner JMM and Opposition BJP compete with each other to woo them ahead of the Assembly election.

JMM central general secretary and spokesperson Vinod Pandey on Wednesday said that a party delegation has submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission seeking permission to implement “JMM Samman Yojana’ in the state.

Under the scheme, the JMM promises to provide financial assistance of ₹2,500 per month, amounting to ₹30,000 per year, to women beneficiaries.

“We submitted a memorandum addressed to the Election Commission (EC) through the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Jharkhand seeking its approval to implement our proposed JMM Samman Yojana. The scheme cannot be implemented without permission from the commission as per a press note issued on May 2. If it (EC) finds that the BJP’s proposed scheme is not illegal, it should also permit the JMM’s scheme,” Vinod Kumar Pandey said.

“The BJP is filling forms from women asking for details like name, address, mobile number, panchayat, block, district name and others and the scheme promises to give ₹ 2,100 to each woman on the 11th of every month and ₹ 25,000 per year. This is a sheer violation of the Representation of the People Act and aimed at luring voters ahead of the Assembly poll,” he said.

The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government on Wednesday announced that it has already given the third instalment of its “Maiyan Samman Yojana” to about 51 lakh women during Navratri.

Hemant took to social media to announce that the fourth instalment of the scheme would be transferred to the account of the beneficiaries before Chhath next month. Under the scheme, ₹1,000 is transferred to each woman between the age of 18 and 50 years every month.

Earlier this week, BJP election in-charge for the Jharkhand Assembly election and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced the party Gogo (Santhal word for mother) Didi Yojana to counter the state’s women assistance scheme.

“In place of the existing ₹ 1,000 we will give ₹ 2,100 every month to women after we form the government in Jharkhand,” Chouhan had announced before media.

BJP leaders have claimed that women above 15 years and below 60 years would benefit from the scheme.

This prompted Hemant to direct deputy commissioners of all 24 districts to ensure the Election Commission rules are strictly adhered to and FIRs to be registered against offenders as per legal provisions. The chief minister also shared the ECI’s letter on May 2, 2024, directing political parties to cease enrolling/registering voters for post-election beneficiary-oriented schemes under the guise of surveys.