Poonam Aggarwal (third from right) Mahila Morcha Mandal, president of the BJP, along with other office-bearers of the party. (Photo: Samreen Wani)
The scorching summer sun shines above our heads in Ambala, but that hardly matters to Poonam Aggarwal.
“It’s 46 degrees, I know,” she laughs as she adjusts her sari for a photo. She says only Modi has delivered on his promises to women voters.
“Women from villages used to defecate in the open. They also used the chulha (open stone stove used for cooking) which would cause them lung problems. Only my “big brother” thought about these women and the Muslim women whose husbands abandoned them after pronouncing talaq three times,” said Mahila Morcha Mandal, president of the BJP.
Aggarwal is among thousands of women who attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first rally at the Police Line ground in Ambala city on Saturday. The rally site, with a capacity for only 25,000 people, could not accommodate the nearly 60,000 to 70,000 people who showed up despite the heat to hear Modi speak.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued an orange alert for a heatwave in Haryana, Punjab, East Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat.
Modi, who invoked Bharat Mata, Goddess Ambika and Goddess Manasa Devi at the beginning of his speech, supported the candidature of Banto Kataria of Ambala. Kataria is the widow of Ratan Lal Kataria, former foreign minister and two-time MP from Ambala constituency. Saturday was also the death anniversary of Ratan Lal Kataria.
“She got the ticket after years of political struggle and hard work; Do you think this is a small thing for women? We, sisters of Banto Kataria, would like to assure her that we will all ensure her victory,” said Aggarwal as all party members around her nodded in agreement.
In her short seven-minute speech, Kataria invoked her late husband’s legacy and listed some of Modi’s achievements over the past decade, including the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir and the women’s reservation bill, among others .
Aruna Sudan, 38, a resident of the city, said, “The women reservation law will benefit women from Haryana as it is a rural state and women cannot exercise their rights here.” She adds that the BJP government has used public money for all the right policies.
Meanwhile, Lakshmi (only first name mentioned), 48 and a resident of Jagadhari, says she liked Kataria’s eloquent style but was only at the meeting to catch a glimpse of Modi.
55-year-old Neelam, who is sitting next to her, says: “I have been with the BJP for ten years because they do not make false promises. They deliver exactly what they say.”
Baby, also 48 and a resident of Vishal Colony, says, “They have opened the Ram Mandir and we Hindus can now visit that place. Congress has done nothing until today. There is another mosque in Vrindavan and Modi ji says he will campaign for that too.”
She adds, “As a Hindu, he fulfills our wishes.” All members of Baby’s family vote for the party.
Neelam says the Modi government has provided them with LPG cylinders which have helped women like her.
She now has three sons who work in the unorganized sector. When asked how the family manages its finances given the unreliable source of income, she shrugs and says, “Ho jaata hai (we will manage somehow).” She says that now all she wants is a pucca house under Prime Minister Awas Yojana.
Crowds cheer at Prime Minister’s meeting in Ambala City. (Photo: Samreen Wani)
At the meeting, Modi said he had delegated the responsibility of achieving a ‘drone revolution in agriculture’ to women.
“I am imparting training to the women in rural areas as drone pilots and drones worth lakhs of rupees. Like the women of Haryana supporting the agriculture sector, the state will take the lead in using drones in agriculture,” he said.
He also recognized the contribution of the ‘daughters’ of Haryana in the field of sports.
Like Aggarwal, women from various BJP mandals, uniformly draped in saffron and green saris, pleated to perfection and with the lotus symbol prominently displayed all over the fabric, cheered from their section from the right side of the stage.
Despite a master’s degree in English, Aggarwal only speaks in her ‘mother tongue’.
“Hindi was glorified only by Modi ji,” she says.
First print: May 18, 2024 | 11:28 PM IST