PM Modi says women one big caste, warns against attempts to create rift

New Delhi: In a swipe at opposition parties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday cautioned women against "divisive politics" seeking to split them and said they are one big "caste" who can take on any challenge together.

"All women should remain together. Nowadays, some people are creating rift among women... All women have one caste which is so big that they can together take on any challenge," he said while interacting with women beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY).

An official statement later added that he cautioned women to be aware of divisive politics seeking to create a rift among them.

The ruling BJP has assiduously courted women voters with several welfare schemes, some surveys have shown that they have voted for the party more enthusiastically in a number of state elections.

Modi's comments are seen as a swipe at the Congress and other parties which have been pushing for a caste census while the prime minister has asserted that the poor, women, youths and farmers are the four biggest castes whose progress will lead to a developed India.

He made the remarks while interacting with Priyanka Yadav from Darbhanga in Bihar as she noted as to how a number of welfare schemes of the central government helped her family tide over the financial crisis following the Covid-19 outbreak as they received free grain and cash benefit as well.

He urged her to create awareness about government schemes in her village and expressed satisfaction that the "Modi ki Guarantee" vehicles is reaching every village in the country.

He stressed that any welfare scheme must reach every beneficiary for it to be successful and said such programmes were earlier confined to papers and ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

Nazia Nazir, a milk vendor and VBSY beneficiary from Sheikh Pura, Jammu and Kashmir, said 'Jal Jeevan Mission' has proved to be transformative for her village, with clean and safe tapped water supply reaching their homes while water issues once prevailed there.

Among the other beneficiaries with whom Modi interacted was Mona, a transgender, who hailed from Ranchi and now owns a tea shop in Chandigarh after availed a loan of Rs 10,000 through 'PM Svanidhi Scheme'.

He reiterated the need for more transgender people to avail government benefits, underlining his government's spirit of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' to ensure that development reaches every strata of the society.