Congress, on Wednesday, endorsed the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) ‘Mai Bahan Maan Yojana’, under which underprivileged women will receive Rs 2,500 every month directly in their bank accounts, if the Grand Alliance government is formed in Bihar post assembly elections 2025.

Making an announcement to this effect in Patna on Wednesday, the All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba said the Congress governments in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh as well as the government in Jharkhand, where the Congress party is an alliance partner, have already launched similar schemes benefiting underprivileged women.

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Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav unveiled the ‘Mai Bahan Maan Yojana’ in December 2024 to address the challenges faced by underprivileged women in Bihar who struggle to afford basic necessities such as food, clothing, and healthcare for their children due to rising inflation.

He has pledged that if the Grand Alliance wins the assembly elections, his government would transfer Rs 2,500 per month into the bank accounts of economically disadvantaged women to help them manage household expenses.

Taking this initiative a step ahead, Alka Lamba launched a state-wide campaign to help women fill the guarantee form now so that they start receiving an honorarium of Rs 2,500 every month directly to their bank account soon after formation of the Grand Alliance government in Bihar.

She also launched a poster with a telephone number 8800023525 and asked every needy woman in Bihar to register simply by giving a missed call on this number. Congress workers will visit them to fill the registration form. They will also highlight how the Nitish-BJP government has deprived women of basic opportunities and facilities.

With this campaign, the Congress party is aiming to connect with a large number of women before the assembly elections.

Bihar Janata Dal (U) President Umesh Singh Kushwaha criticised the Congress party’s initiative, saying it reflects the grand old party’s political desperation for power. He said the RJD and Congress have resorted to false, hollow, and misleading promises to save their fading credibility and exhausted public support.