Mahua Maji (top) and Gangotri Kujur

Ranchi, Nov. 15: One is rooting for women’s empowerment while the other is championing children’s cause.

Two women candidates, who have joined the Assembly poll fray, are batting for issues close to their heart, promising to work for the ignored sections of the society if voted to power.

While Jharkhand State Commission for Women (JSCW) chairperson Mahua Maji, who has been fielded by JMM from Ranchi, believes that development can be achieved only if the fair sex is given its due, BJP nominee from Mandar Gangotri Kujur said she would strive to provide education to children.

Quoting social reformer and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kanshi Ram, Maji said: “Satta master key hain (Power is the master key). If you have power in your hands, you can change the fate of people. And politics is one of the ways of empowering women. Unless women are empowered, we can’t think of development.”

Although as the head of JSCW, Maji gets to work for development, she feels her role is restricted and she can make a difference in women’s lives only if she gets power.

“If I get elected from Ranchi, it will help me raise my voice and work for implementation of the women’s policy that was announced by chief minister Hemant Soren in October.

“Although the state government has promised to provide equal rights to women, we need female politicians to take up the issues and ensure that the policy is implemented properly and does not remain confined to a paper,” Maji, who purchased her nomination papers today, told The Telegraph.

Among her other priorities, the JMM candidate said she would try and ensure safety of women, especially at night.

“There are small everyday issues that get ignored. For example, I came across many defunct street lights in Ranchi. Working women, who return home late, are targeted by eve-teasers and thugs in the dark,” she pointed.

BJP’s Kujur, who described herself as gaon ki beti, on the other hand, wants proper education and healthcare facilities for children.

“My primary objective after becoming an Assembly member would be to provide irrigation facilities to rural folks. If people don’t have proper source of livelihood, they cannot send their children to schools,” she said.

She pointed out that in villages, the dropout rate was quite high and parents were compelled to send their children outside the state to work as bonded labourers. “My priority will be to stop this and ensure healthcare and education facilities for the poor kids,” she added.