- People glued to the political churnings around the country would be closely monitoring what’s happening in the ensuing crucial state assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Especially, the Gujarat polls will generate immense interest simply because the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister hail from the state. Astonishingly, the Bharatiya Janata Party is in the saddle for the last 27 years proving the poll pundits wrong time and again. We are often bombarded with anti-incumbency as a primary factor in eventually deciding the poll outcome. Rightly so as the party in power often fails to live up to the people’s expectations and is booted out for lack of development by the electorate. A classic anti-incumbency factor at play, you see.
PC: Abirami A B
- Now, the BJP has coined pro-incumbency while campaigning aggressively highlighting the various developments undertaken under its vigil over the last 27 years. The benefits of having double-engine governments, signifying the party in power at the Centre and state, have traction amongst the electorate and the BJP never misses an opportunity to highlight the same. This is where the BJP stands heads and shoulders above the opposition who have taken umbrage under freebies. The BJP has released its manifesto unsurprisingly playing to the Hindutva gallery by promising to implement Uniform Civil Code recommendations, a law for seizing assets of rioters, a deradicalization cell in the police, and strict curbs on religious conversion. Sounds impressive.
- Mind you, this is not mere rhetoric and BJP has shown that promises like these have significant resonance among a section of Gujarat voters. In contrast, neither Congress nor APP’s occasional Hindutva-lite forays have anything to counter this. Yes, the competition to promise welfare and freebies has become the common denominator in Indian politics, irrespective of whether a government can deliver them. The usual promises to offer free power, free education, free healthcare, subsidized cylinders, old pension scheme, farm debt waiver, etc. have been matched by BJP as well. But what about quality and capacity to deliver? Poor delivery is not uncommon either. Quality education, not just free access, uplifts students. Did someone say who cares?
PC: Skymet Weather Team
- Indications are that the middle class is looking beyond freebies. Where BJP scores over others is an adroit attempt to not cede the pro-poor platform entirely to the opposition by covering this base too by joining the freebie game in earnest. Moreover, its middle-class outreach is as strong as ever. The promise of making Gujarat a $ 1 trillion economy and bringing the Olympics to Ahmedabad in 2036 typifies how BJP is covering all bases. With the three parties promising to generate 10 lakh and 20 lakh jobs between them, can Gujarat provide India with a template for job-full growth? Unlikely. That remains the key promise our netas continue to fail to deliver. Nonetheless, looks like the BJP will romp home in Gujarat yet again.
