Political
Diary
New Delhi, 23 March
2021
Its Raining Populist Freebies
GOVT MONEY IS NETA’S MONEY
By Poonam I Kaushish
It is a perfect
electoral cake rolled out by various Parties to the strains of ‘Vote For Me.’
Iced with luscious lip-smacking freebies galore for one and all. From the aam aadmi-debt-ridden kisan- top tax payer. To cream the
electorate at the husting.
Wherein sound
economic sense has been surrendered to political gamesmanship with reckless
promises made by Parties on the assumption that populist pledges yield better
electoral rewards than reasoned issues and sustainable programmes. Who cares?
After all, promises are just promises. And Government money is nobody’s
money!
Witness how our netagan are raining populist schemes and
loan waivers in five poll-bound States merrily converting political sops into
vote percentages wherein social and economic upliftment is weighed on vote-bank
political scales.
Leading the pack is BJP
who woos voters with ushering in ‘Sonar Bangla’ via Rs 1 kg rice and wheat, Rs 5 meals at Annapurna
canteen, Rs 4000 annually to landless farmers, 33% women reservation in Government
jobs, Rs 18,000 to 75 lakh farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, free
education for girls from KG to PG, implementation of the CAA etc.
Not far behind TMC’s
Mamata Didi wows to create five lakh jobs within a year, free ration at
doorstep, Rs 500 per month to economically weak, Rs 1,000 widow pension
scheme and Rs 10 lakh student credit card scheme sans collateral if elected again.
In Tamil Nadu both Dravidian
Parties are not only enticing voters with gold, TVs, fridges, microwaves but as
this alone won’t do, the ruling AIDMK is offering one Government job to every family, 6 free LPG cylinders, ‘Amma’
homes for all, ‘Amma’ washing machines and solar gas stoves for every family
Rival DMK in its voluminous 505 Sonnathai Seivom, Seivathai Solvom ( ‘We do what we say; We say
what we do’) promises to start Kalaignar Canteens in 500 places, give poor
subsidized food, Rs 24,000 to pregnant women, waive all farm and jewellery
loans of small and medium farmers, Rs 10,000 subsidy to farmers for buying
electric motors, increase paddy support price to Rs 2500 from Rs 2000 per
quintal, 2 lakh new houses for fishermen et al.
The Congress gripped
by the Kal Ho Naa Ho syndrome is busy
licking wounds with a put-on brave face humming Lead Kindly Light as Rahul-Priyanka
serenade Assam with 5 lakh Government jobs, monthly income of Rs 2,000 to
housewives, 200 free electricity units, Rs 365 daily wage for tea garden workers and nullifying
CAA.
In Kerala the ruling
LDF up’s monthly welfare pension from Rs 1,600 to Rs 2,500 for 60 lakh people, 40
lakh new employment opportunities, welfare schemes for taxi, autorickshaw
drivers, coir-agriculture-cashew workers and toddy tappers, 50% farm wages hike.
The Congress-led UDF assures Rs 2,000 monthly pension for homemakers, five lakh
homes for poor, no hospitals bills and free food kits to the Covid 19 affected.
Undeniably, populism
is not a new phenomenon and election 2021 is no different from previous polls.
In the last over 60 years this ‘catch-all’ politics has reared its ugly head in
various forms. The ball was set rolling by the DMK in Tamil Nadu in 1967 when
it guaranteed rice at Rs 1. In Andhra TDP’s Telgu bidda NTR Rama Rao followed suit by promising rice at Rs 2 per kg in
1983 and made it into a symbol of victory. Then came the disastrous 80’s “loan
melas” followed by colour TVs, fans,
sewing machines, saris to voters era.
Congress’s Indira
Gandhi heralded political one-upmanship via slogans: ‘Garibi
Hatao’ in 1971, BJP followed with ‘Mandir’
and VP Singh Mandal. Which made way
for Narasimha Rao’s economic giveaways “roti,
kaprah aur makan” and Sonia’s “Congress ka
haath aam aadmi ke saath.” The ruling BJP tweaked this to promising ‘Achche Din’ in 2014 and Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas
in 2019.
In subsequent years
bereft of anything new to offer the aam
aadmi Parties once again repackaged the old. Kejriwal’s AAP fine-tuned
BJP’s bijli, paani, sadak by
appending paisa to woo Delhi’s poor.
The Saffron Sangh offered women Ujwala scheme, toilets, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
It can be argued
Parties are obliged to be seen as populist in the no-holds-barred free-for-all
electoral race, as it would be stupid to wish away political lollipops to
entice voters. Raising a moot point: Where do they get monies to fund these
doles? Obviously, by taxing us, the people.
True, assurances of
cheap rice, wheat or free electricity can be justified. Aren’t such concessions
imperative in a country where 70% people live below the poverty line, hungry
stomachs feed on enticing neon lights of fast food, rummage in garbage bins for
rat-infested left-overs’ and 600 million earn less than Rs 30 a day. Is it not our
leaders’ duty to take care of citizens?
Certainly, but at the
same time one should never mistake political rhetoric for reality. Politicians
of all hues cry hoarse for “a better deal for the poor.” Those who ask for
water have been given watershed management programmes. Those who want naukri have been handed NREGA.
Debt-laden farmers have got loan waivers. More trees, not coveted mangoes!
However, given the
level of dishonesty, populism and irresponsibility which increasingly governs
our political system, the measures announced are invitation to disaster. Bluntly,
political promises in the economic sphere should not cross prudence limits,
where it starts hurting the economy. None sees the danger of economic
derailment as the biggest losers are the poor in whose name freebies are
justified.
By providing free
candies to voters, citizens have become dependent on netas resulting in no empowerment. Consequently, people are unable to
critically evaluate leaders. Also, given the economic logic there are no free
lunches, a populist scheme is invariably paid for either by higher taxes or
increased inflation. Precisely, what the new State Governments would have to do.
Pertinently, in 2013 Subramaniam
Balaji vs Tamil Nadu Government case
the Supreme Court directed Election Commission to frame guidelines to restrain
Parties from promising freebies to maintain a level playing field as “it shakes
the root of free elections to a large degree.” Section 123 of the RPA bars
Parties from promising freebies in their manifestos.
What next? One, make it
obligatory for Parties to inform EC where they will get monies to implement
free giveaway once elected. Will they raise taxes or reduce allocation for
programmes? Two, Parties should offer permanent solutions instead of seemingly
advantageous, but temporary stop-gap measures. Three, EC should penalize
Parties who use quick exploitative mechanism to win votes.
Clearly, leaders must
draw a distinction between welfarism and populism. Welfarism takes needs of
different sections of society as part of a large development framework.
Populism is purely guided by vote-banks, granting concessions which have no economic
rationale or are part of larger Governmental economic planning.
Unfortunately, our polity
has been unable to perceive reality and consistently failed to evolve a
development strategy. Forgetting populism provides immediate succour at the future’s
expense. It is no remedy for education and health neglect, faulty
industrialization and under-investment in rural areas.
The aam aadmi is no fool. Each populist
slogan only accentuates his growing awareness. The real significance of any
electoral battle is that unless the problem of poverty is substantially
resolved, fake promise will continue to entice voters whereby it could endanger
our democracy. Time to draw a ‘lakshman
rekha’ on vote-bank politics. ---INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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