PATNA: BJP national vice-president Kiran Ghai on Thursday attributed the large turnout of women at the polling booths to free cycles and uni-forms given to school going girls, 50 per cent reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj system and an atmosphere of crime control in the last five years.
She said that women participation is heavy because of women empow-erment by the NDA government. She predicted that since 140 out of 243 constituencies have gone to the polls in the first three phases of elections, there was clear indication that the NDA would retain power. “There is an NDA wave,” she said. People want to facilitate the return of the govern-ment that worked in the last five years, she claimed.
“There is no strong opposition against the NDA in the elections,” she added. She feared a post-poll alliance between the RJD and Congress as indicated by Delhi CM Shiela Dixit. There is a hidden pact between the two parties, she alleged.
Asked about the possibility of the Janata Dal(U) getting an overwhelm-ing majority on its own, Ghai said that there was a holy alliance between the BJP and the JD(U) based on mutual trust and the NDA would not break. She dismissed the suggestion that Nitish Kumar would do a Navin Patnaik in Bihar after the elections. “Orissa is different from Bihar,” she said.
State BJP president C P Thakur hoped that the BJP will win 20 out of 24 seats where elections were held on Thursday. In the November 2005 elections, the BJP had 15 MLAs from these constituencies.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leaders, including former deputy PM L K Ad-vani and leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj, will visit the state for the fourth phase electioneering. Advani will come here on Friday to campaign in Bhagalpur, Banka and Gaya. Swaraj too is coming on Friday and would campaign in Bachhwara, Suryagarha, Bihpur and Katoria.
Read more: ‘Large turnout due to women empowerment’ – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6832572.cms#ixzz13o67Rv9o