Politics of freebies enters Karnataka
The battle of poll promises has begun ahead of the April/May assembly polls in Karnataka. The promises, in the form of freebies, are being floated by the ruling BJP and the challenger, the Congress. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced special financial assistance for women to take care of their households, which will likely be included in the state budget scheduled on February 17. It will likely be up to Rs 3,000 per month “depending on calculations” and working out its resource mobilisation aspects.
The Congress, on its part, has announced 200 units of free power to every household if voted to power in the state. On Monday, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the ‘Naa Nayaki’ convention of the party, further announced Rs 2,000 per month for the woman head in every household in the state if voted to power. It is estimated that 200 units of free power and Rs 2,000 per month deposited into the accounts of every woman head of household would come up to a whopping Rs 45,000 crore cost per year. That, too, with the debt-trapped electricity supply companies being supported by Rs 21,000 crore, which includes Rs 13,000 crore raised against guarantees by the state government. The BJP promise, if kept, could cost up to Rs 54,000 crore a year. The expenditure on freebies could derail existing programmes and affect planned ones for want of funds. The announcements attempt to mirror the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) model of providing freebies in Delhi. However, although it helped the party retain power for a second term in 2020, the AAP-ruled government was faced with huge costs forcing a shortage of funds for essential civic amenities. That appears to be lost on those making political promises of freebies in Karnataka.
That these freebies are being announced much ahead of the respective parties’ poll manifestos indicates a degree of desperation in both—the BJP, with anxiety over retaining power, and the Congress, smarting under its recent victory in Himachal Pradesh, looking to regain its hold in the South. These promises of freebies, even if met, are not likely to sustain. Instead, convincing the electorate on how issues like the prevailing divisive communal environment, unemployment, education, ecological sustenance and security for farmers, women and minorities are addressed could bear fruit. The manifestos could accommodate that.