How India's women are becoming a powerful political force ahead of polls

A record 65.3 per cent of India's 260 million women voters cast a ballot in the 2014 polls that swept Modi to the biggest parliamentary majority in three decades

To see how India’s women are becoming a powerful political force ahead of next month’s election, look no further than Neelam Kumari and her bright yellow van.

The 35-year-old living in one of India’s poorest states bought the vehicle with a Rs 600,000 ($8,400) loan from a government program, allowing her to earn Rs 14,000 a month ferrying children to a nearby school. She gives the credit—and plans to give her vote—to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“My son and the other kids in our village wouldn’t have gone to an English school if not for this loan,” Kumari said from