- The political narrative in the country has taken a turn for the worse vis-à-vis offerings to the electorate in the form of freebies, cash disbursements, and several such measures to keep the voting populace interested. Not too long ago, no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ridiculed the increasing trend of embracing offering poll sops and freebies. However, that appears to have not had any effect on the political class with even the Bharatiya Janata Party also promising freebies and cash dole-outs to impress upon the electorate. The growing trend of every political party to better sops from the other is an indication of how the narrative has caught the goat of the fiscal experts who are calling such measures imprudent moves. Is this being heard? Not really.
PC:NDTV
- The moot point to ponder over here is whether the political parties consider the larger picture of fiscal prudency over the electoral expediency to consolidate the assiduously built vote banks. The answer is known. The last few state assembly elections have proved that the political class firmly believes the freebies will work in their favour. The ensuing Delhi state assembly elections are no different either. Worryingly, Delhi elections show politics of free cash are out of control now. As reported, it’s promising to rain cash in Delhi. BJP recently offered a one-time 15k payout for civil services aspirants and fee & travel expenses reimbursed for two attempts. AAP’s pledged to pick up autowallah wards’ tuition tab for entrance exams, and 1L for a daughter’s wedding.
PC:Mint
- AAP, BJP, and Congress’s pledges include monthly dole – to women (AAP:2.1k, BJP & Congress both 2.5k), to temple priests and gurdwara granthis (AAP: 18k), to SC students at vocational institutes (BJP: 1k), to elderly (BJP: 2.5k for ages 60-70 & 3k for 70+). BJP has offered 21k to pregnant women. Congress promises an 8.5k stipend to jobless youth for a year, along with apprenticeships. Of course, the devil is always in the eligibility criteria that crop up post-polls. But that’s not the point of discussion here. Political parties are shifting to an electoral model that prioritises private benefits over delivering public good. This has grievous implications – both for democratic tenets and the economy. We are witnessing the flip side of direct cash transfer’s tech success.
PC:Deccan Herald
- Mind you, it’s boiling down to a quid pro quo between political parties and citizens – govt is a via media, elected representatives dipping to state coffers and cutting back on fundamentals, for where is the incentive to do otherwise, given electoral politics has morphed into an end in and of itself. Crucially, where will the funds for this largesse come from? At the expense of govt programmes since subsidies may suffer to service women’s handouts. Delhi’s rich though. Per capita income is 4.62L. Its budget was 76k cr this fiscal. Yet, midday meal cooks are paid a paltry 1k a month, way less than minimum wage. Instead of establishing fair wages for key service delivery, politicians want women to queue up for 2k+. The country simply cannot afford it.
