It’s raining freebies this poll season in Delhi
Remember the interesting scene from famous Bollywood flick “3 Idiots” where Rancho (Aamir Khan) was trying to wake up bed-ridden Raju (Sharman Joshi) who was in a semi-conscious state.
Rancho made multiple “empty” promises and the scene ended with Raju waking up hearing his friend’s words of “free, free, free”. Probably, the current scenario of the coming Delhi elections can be summed up with this comic scene.
Free water, free electricity, free healthcare, free travel and what not — the political parties are showering “freebies” in this election season, hoping to woo the electorate by hook or crook.
While the BJP had initially targeted the AAP for the freebie culture and termed it as “revadis”, with AAP’s back-to-back landslide victories in the Delhi Assembly elections, even the former has been forced to follow suit.
The freebie culture has often been touted as the AAP’s strongest point in any elections but its tryst with freebies goes more than a decade back when the AAP formed the government in Delhi for the first time with the Congress’ support.
Kejriwal had, before elections, promised to provide 20,000 litres of domestic-use water and 200 units of electricity — both free of cost every month to every household in the city. When he became the Chief Minister for the first time, he delivered both within his 49-day government period.
After a poll hiatus of almost two years, the AAP completely decimated all its political rivals and won 67/70 seats in 2015.
Before entering the 2020 polls, Kejriwal put his best foot forward and made people realise the benefits of his governance for the last five years, which had multiple welfare schemes whose benefits actually reached people at the lowest levels.
Free travel for women in the DTC buses had its major impact on the women voters. When this newspaper spoke to some women, they commended the AAP government for this particular welfare scheme. This time even the Congress and BJP are making big announcements if they are voted to power.
In the current poll cycle, so far only the BJP has released its manifesto and declared welfare schemes for women, while the Congress and AAP have made verbal announcements which will find a way in their manifestoes once these are released.
To provide medical care to the people of Delhi, the BJP announced to implement the Central government’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana to provide free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh, with the state government providing an additional Rs 5 lakh cover for all low-income households. As per the BJP’s manifesto, senior citizens, who have attained the age of 70, will receive free OPD and diagnostic services, as well as free treatment up to Rs 10 lakh.
On similar lines, the Congress is trying to woo women voters with its ‘Pyaari Didi Yojana’. The scheme, modelled on the Karnataka Government’s successful initiatives, is designed to provide relief to Delhi women facing rising living costs and promises them a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500.
Notably, officials last month flagged the extra burden on the budget with the implementation of monthly assistance welfare schemes for women. The fiscal stress, according to experts, could push the Delhi Government into a budgetary deficit running into thousands of crores, exacerbating its reliance on high-cost borrowings.