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New Delhi, 17 May 2023
Karnataka Takeaways
WELFARE vital,
no to corruption
By Dhurjati Mukherjee
The Congress has won a victory in Karnataka with an
absolute majority, unexpected by most political pundits. The sorry state of
affairs in the southern State voted out the BJP, which is reflected in the
allegations that have long been in the air that ministers and political leaders
were demanding 40% commission to get their bills passed. The Karnataka
Contractors’ Association even reminded the voters about this highlighting that
the government was deep-rooted in corruption.
Though the Prime Minister Modi campaigned extensively
and was in Karnataka almost every week from February to April, around 12 state
Cabinet ministers were defeated in the elections. Projecting Modi and ignoring
local issues did not bode well for the BJP. Other factors include Hindu
consolidation which backfired for the BJP as strong Muslim and Kuruba support
helped the Congress along with the two dominant castes Vokkaligas and
Lingayats. It became evident the religious mobilisation may face limitations,
specially in the educated south, as voters are more concerned about development
issues. No less significant has been the effect of the Bharat Jodo Yatra of
Rahul Gandhi which gave the party the much-needed momentum as it was held a few
months before the polls.
There is clear indication that the so-called Modi magic
didn’t work this time. The people it seems have been steadily realising that
the government’s pro-rich policies were ignoring the poor and the marginalised
sections. Over the years around 70-75% of the wealth generated went to the
richest 1 percent while 67-70 million Indians, who comprise the poorest half of
the population saw only a 1% increase in their wealth.
The tall claims of achievements and welfare policies by
the Modi government notwithstanding, it’s getting quite evident that monopolies
have been created through pro-capitalist policies. This apart, the rich are
becoming richer and the widening gap comes between the well-off and the poor
with each passing day. Plus, the rise of Hindu fundamentalism and violence
marked the last few years of Modi government which attracted the attention of
the global media.
Thus, the present type of growth followed created
massive degrees of inequality in wealth and income distribution and this
increased during the past decade. The jobless growth accentuated inequality and
the rising inequality has shaped such a pattern of growth that enriches the
small consuming class. Despite tall talks of the leaders, economic reforms have
failed to transform the lives of majority of Indians. The country slipped
considerably in various parameters used to rank nations which include worsening
environmental degradation to greater incidence of hunger, to falling human
development, to shrinking democratic rights and lack of happiness of the human
individual.
The Centre’s tax policies too have deprived the poor of
the income support they desperately need to overcome the loss of earnings
caused by the pandemic. The government has not provided any substantial direct
financial relief, such as cash transfers, to the poor as economists believe
that equal distribution of wealth is not on the government’s agenda. To make
matters worse, India also doesn’t impose any inheritance tax on the super-rich
while inheritances are taxed at 40% in the US and UK, at 50% in South Korea and
an average of 15% across OECD members.
The welfare subsidies for the poor by the Modi
government hasn’t worked. The Congress stole the limelight in Karnataka when it
announced certain measures that include Rs 2000 per month for the female head
of a family, 10 kg of rice free to every BPL household, Rs 3000 per month for
unemployed degree holders and Rs 1500 for diploma holders for two years,
attracting women and youth.
Thus, post Karnataka, there is little hope for the BJP
in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where organisationally the party is much weaker
than the Congress. Specially in Rajasthan, Gehlot’s performance and hold over
the party has attracted attention. More than India assuming the G20 presidentship,
local issues in these States are far more important to the electorate as also
the economic prospects for the poor and lower income groups.
The young generation, specially the educated youth are getting
frustrated. The unemployment and underemployment situation has forced the
emerging working class to lose faith in the BJP government. Recently, Prof
Asoka Mody of Princeton University and author of ‘India is Broken’observed:
“Over the next decade, India will need 200 million more jobs on net to employ
those who are of working age and seeking work. But the challenge is virtually
insurmountable, considering that the economy failed to add any net new jobs
over the past decade, when 7-8 million additional jobseekers were entering the
market each year”.
The social and economic parameters do not hold much hope
for the future. The rural economy has been stagnating as people cannot be moved
from the agricultural sector as manufacturing growth has not been as per
expectations. Politicians – not just of the BJP but other fundamentalist
parties – have encouraged the politics of hate manifest in violence.
Another distressing fact is that the BJP has not
encouraged institutional autonomy of higher educational institutions, curbed
the right to dissent and not allowed intellectuals to have a greater say in
government and party matters. These tendencies of the government have got the
government labelled as being ‘authoritarian democratic’ and not a pluralist
democracy.
There must be an alternative strategy that ensures
greater employment opportunities for the youth and forcing the business class
to use labour in their operations and, if necessary, to expand to
labour-intensive sectors. Many economists and the Congress have been talking of
a basic income plan for the unemployed which needs to be given a serious thought.
There must be social infrastructure development of
rural and backward areas so that the lower income sections can avail of good
education and health facilities in the villages and blocks. Social harmony has
to prevail in the villages, and this can happen if religion is not tied to
politics and there is grass-root development with involvement of the
panchayats.
The centralised structure of political and economic
governance must yield place to decentralisation. Even in Karnataka, local
leaders of the Congress were at the helm of affairs and this facilitated the
party to win. The people wanted a stable government and were fed-up with
corruption and politicians changing sides, as was the case in the State.
However, it would be a challenging task for the
Congress in the ensuing elections in Rajasthan to keep its flock together and
say a big no to corruption. Importantly, the State is the first in the
country which has implemented the ‘Right to Health’. At the same time, it’s quite
obvious that the Congress may look to replicate some of the lessons learnt from
the Karnataka campaign.
As some political analysts and Congress leaders have
stated recently, the party has learned from its mistakes in the past decade and
is bent on inclusive development and better livelihoods for the people. Only
time will tell whether the masses would reject Modi’s government and go with
the party which promises welfare of the masses.---INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)
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