- As you must have noticed, the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi aggressively went about accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Election Commission of India of supposedly blatant voter theft. It all started with the ECI announcing the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list in June, a few months before the announcement of the Bihar polls. The ECI is widely acknowledged as a respected statutory body known to undertake free, fair, and peaceful elections in the country with great precision, meticulous planning, and adherence to strict SOPs despite demanding logistical challenges. However, the way Rahul Gandhi started casting aspersions on the ECI, accusing them of joining hands with the BJP, was totally uncalled for.
PC: India TV News
- What the Congress failed to gauge is the pulse of the people on the ground who were looking at good governance, improved living standards, law & order, and hopes of further improving their lot, even though the labyrinthine caste equations and conundrums are part of any election in India. Moreso in Bihar. Some of the smart monetary measures implemented by Nitish Kumar before the polls further consolidated the voters to choose NDA over Mahaghatbadhan (MGB) at the hustings. The resultant outcome is the NDA winning a spectacular 202 seats as against MGB’s mere 33. After 20 years of Nitish’s rule, it is critical to wean Bihar away from its ruinous near-total dependence on cash transfers and remittances. Why? Let’s dwelve further into the matter.
PC: Prabhat Khabar
- Mind you, no governed entity can have its future determined by welfare payments and migrant income. Payouts were roughly 10% of annual revenue expenditure. Welfare spending just before the polls was huge. Notching up a mighty bill of Rs.9,240cr annually. This has serious consequences for any state, but for Bihar, it means a fiscal wreck. Fiscal deficit at 9.2% of state GP last year, Nitish’s hopes to cut this to 3% are naturally gone with the payout. And migrant earnings make up 50% of household incomes, where per capita income is Rs. 60k. Together, it makes for an unreliable foundation for growth in India’s poorest state. What Bihar needs, then, for meaningful change is what India needs: lots of private investment. Of course, that’s easier said than done.
PC: PC: Business Today
- While the NDA and the BJP-JDU combination plan on the next course of governance to live up to the expectations of the electorate, what moves will the Congress contemplate to come out of the sound drubbing it received in these elections? For a start, the Congress strategy of raising incessant accusations against ECI and the BJP for every loss must stop. This will not cut ice with the discerning people anymore. The flaw fundamentally lies with the Congress’s failure to comprehend the pulse of the people who are convinced that the NDA led by the BJP has delivered on several fronts, including economic parameters. The GOP must go back to the drawing board to completely overhaul its non-yielding strategies to stay relevant in Indian politics. Period.
