Delhi Election 2025: Congress promises ₹2,500 a month for women if it wins assembly polls

The Congress party has promised ₹2,500 a month for women in Delhi if it wins the February Delhi Elections. 

“Today, I am here to launch the 'Pyari Didi' scheme. I am confident that Congress will form the govt in Delhi and we will provide ₹2,500 to women, and it will be decided in the very first meeting of the cabinet - on the same model that we implemented in Karnataka,” Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar said on Monday.

The pre-poll promise is an effort by the grand old party to woo women, who form a major chunk of voters in the national capital.

The elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are expected to be held in February this year. The Election Commission of India has not announced the dates yet. The term of the current assembly in Delhi expires on February 23, 2025.

About 71 lakh of Delhi's 1,54,24,858 voters are women. Aam Aadmi Party national chief Arvind Kejriwal has also announced an increase in the monthly stipend under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana for women from ₹1,000 to ₹2,100.

The AAP, led by Kejriwal, seeks to retain power in Delhi for a third time. The party won assembly elections in 2015 and 2020. The party won 67 seats in 2015 and 63 in 2020 in the Assembly Elections. 

The last Congress government in Delhi was under the late former chief minister Sheila Dikshit till December 2013. The party supported Arvind Kejriwal's famous 49-day government (December 28, 2013 - February 14, 2014.)

Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 dates

The Election Commission undertakes a special summary revision of electoral rolls before announcing elections in any state or Union Territory (UT).

The final electoral roll for Delhi elections 2025 will likely be published today, January 6, 2025. The dates for the polls can be announced any time after the conclusion of this exercise–probably in the middle of January.

The BJP released its first list of candidates for the upcoming Delhi Election 2025 on January 4. Among the 29 names on the list are candidates who were once prominent leaders in the AAP and the Congress party in the national capital.