Akhilesh's Rs 40,000 promise heats up UP women's vote battle

Uttar Pradesh is a state in India, and in 2027 it will choose new leaders.

Almost half of the people who get to vote there are women.

Two big political groups want women to vote for them, so they are promising to give women money if they win.

A leader named Akhilesh Yadav said his party would give every woman 40,000 rupees every year, with more each following year.

The group in charge now is thinking about giving women money too — maybe 20,000 rupees first and then more, up to 50,000 rupees.

The person in charge of money for that government did not say exactly how much they would give.

Akhilesh Yadav says the other group is just trying to fool people into voting for it.

Some other states in India have already tried giving money to women.

Those programs sometimes had problems, like late payments or paperwork trouble.

The political groups hope that when women get money directly, they will remember who gave it and vote for that group.