Former Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday launched the Matrishakti Bharosa Card on behalf of the BJP, promising each woman in Bengal monthly financial assistance of ₹3,000.

A source said the BJP had planned a hurried door-to-door outreach drive in all 294 Assembly constituencies to distribute leaflets in the form of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantee cards, promising the monthly dole of ₹3,000, in a bid to woo women voters over whom the Trinamool Congress had had hegemony in the past few elections.

BJP workers have been asked to reach out to every household and hand over the cards, apparently to counter Trinamool’s campaign that the BJP does not fulfil its promises.

Irani, who launched the card along with the leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, and other women BJP leaders at New Town, said: “Not only through party workers but also through such press conferences, we have reached out to every corner of Bengal to assure all voters that these development promises will be delivered once our government is established in West Bengal.”

The BJP has announced a direct bank transfer of ₹3,000 to each woman once it comes to power, a promise aimed at countering Mamata Banerjee’s flagship Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, which was launched in 2021.

Under the scheme, women in the general category currently receive ₹1,500 each, while those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes receive ₹1,700 each per month.

BJP sources said the party had realised that although it had announced its own dole for women — double of what Mamata Banerjee has been providing — the promise had yet to reach households at the micro level.

“Lakshmir Bhandar is an ongoing scheme, and women have been relying on it. Despite our leaders, including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, strongly pushing the promise of direct money transfer in their campaign rallies, it still awaits wider attention,” said a national BJP leader observing the elections in Calcutta.

“So, we plan to reach out to every household with a leaflet serving as a guarantee card from Prime Minister Modi, whom women trust. The main aim is to convince women that the BJP will provide better financial assistance than what they are receiving under the Mamata regime,” the leader added.

Although the BJP has announced the assistance, it has yet to name the scheme. Before the party released its manifesto, state BJP leaders such as Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar had suggested it be called Annapurna Bhandar. However, the BJP refrained from naming it for political reasons.

“Whether it is named after Lakshmi, Annapurna, or anything else, the main issue is the amount of money we will provide to women in Bengal,” the leader said.

The decision to intensify outreach follows reports that the BJP has yet to make significant inroads into Trinamool’s dominance among women voters to achieve its target of a clear majority.

However, Trinamool has started campaigning that the BJP will not fulfil its promise, citing examples from Delhi and Bihar. As a result, it has become a challenge for the BJP to convince voters that the party will honour its commitments.

According to the latest electoral roll for the first phase of elections, in which 152 constituencies will go to the polls on April 23, the total number of electors is 3,60,77,171, of whom 1,75,77,210 are women.

However, the electorate data for the second phase of elections covering 142 constituencies are yet to be published by the Election Commission.

“Almost half of the electorate in the first phase are women, who will play a significant role in determining the electoral outcome. So, the BJP needs to reach out to them with its promises, including the dole and assurances of safety and security,” said a BJP source.

Since the BJP has come out with the promise, Trinamool has countered it by citing examples from Delhi and Bihar. Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have referred to the Delhi model, where the BJP had promised financial assistance of ₹2,500 before elections but did not implement it.

Ahead of the Bihar elections last year, the NDA-led government under Nitish Kumar deposited a one-time dole of ₹10,000 in the accounts of women.

Mamata, in her recent campaign rallies, has claimed that beneficiaries were later asked to return the money after the elections.

Trinamool said the distribution of the Matrishakti Bharosa Cards was against the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

“The party has already announced its promises through its manifesto. Now distributing such cards is a violation of the MCC. They cannot distribute such cards to voters,” said the minister and the party’s Shyampukur candidate, Sashi Panja.