The sweet and sour politics of election rally… how it is costing heavily for the state governments

Maharashtra Less than a month after the new government was sworn in, state Women and Child Development and Welfare Minister Aditi Tatkare said women listed under the Namo Shetkari and Direct Benefit Schemes will not be eligible for the Girl Sister Scheme. This is the scheme under which a pension of Rs 2,100 was promised to all women above 18 years of age. This helped the Mahayuti alliance to come back to power.

Government facing financial crisis

Initial estimates suggest this will help the Maharashtra government reduce the list of 2.63 crore beneficiaries by 20 lakh. On January 1, Himachal CM Sukhwinder Sukhu voluntarily gave up free electricity subsidy of 125 units in his/her name. he/she urged all self-reliant individuals to do so. The aim of this appeal is to provide a profit of ₹200 crore to the State Electricity Board.

The Congress government, which will take over power in Himachal Pradesh in December 2022, is facing a serious financial crisis. The party is struggling to fulfill its election promises. In the process, it has started sorting out the list of beneficiaries and making changes to the free facilities introduced by the previous BJP government.

Andhra CM admitted the problem

In an exclusive interview to our associate newspaper Economic Times in October, Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu admitted that due to financial constraints he/she was struggling to fulfill the six promises made before the assembly elections. When India votes for the 18th Lok Sabha and eight assembly elections in 2024, parties have started the competitive politics of freebies.

Pension for women, loan waiver for small and medium traders, monthly unemployment allowance and free bus travel for women were some of the free promises made by him/her. This may have brought parties to power, but the increasing financial burden of freebies has become a reality for state governments.

History of Freebies

The practice of freebies in India first started in the elections held in Madras in 1967. The state was facing a severe food crisis due to limited supplies of rice and rising prices. Ahead of the assembly elections, the DMK under the leadership of CN Annadurai, popularly known as Anna, had promised to provide rice at ₹1 per kg. DMK won 138 out of 234 assembly seats and Congress was reduced to just 50 seats.

Although the DMK had formed a pre-poll alliance, it emerged as the single largest party to win a majority on its own due to the promise of subsidized rice. Later, this gave rise to a new competitive politics in Tamil Nadu, with the DMK and AIADMK taking turns promising rice, free color TVs, grinders, fans and laptops.

AAP promises free basic facilities for the first time

Regional parties including JDU in Bihar and BJD in Odisha have wooed women voters by promising free bicycles to girl students. However, freebies became mainstream in Indian politics when AAP promised free electricity and water in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections. This was the first time that basic amenities were promised for free.

Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticized it as a ‘freebie’, the BJP itself has promised pension and similar benefits for women above 18 years of age. Right now, all political parties are promising concessions and the list has become innovative and endless.

Most spent on subsidies

RBI’s ‘State Finances: Study of Budget 2024-25’ report said, ‘Many states have announced concessions in their budgets… such expenditure may deplete the resources available to them. “This could hamper their ability to build critical social and economic infrastructure.” The PRS Legislative report, ‘State of State Finances 2024-25’, said Punjab, Andhra, Gujarat and Rajasthan spend the most on subsidies.

Government faces reality

When political parties come to power, financial realities force governments to curb pre-poll enthusiasm. As such, Maharashtra is considering cutting down its beneficiary list for the Girl Sister Scheme. Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh is carefully watching the list of beneficiaries of various schemes. It promised a pension of ₹1,500 per month for women.

But as soon as the scheme was launched, the government decided that a woman would be eligible only if the family was not already drawing pension. We have also defined ‘family’ as a unit, a senior government official said. This includes husband, wife and children. This does not include in-laws or parents.

Even after being in power for three years in Punjab, AAP has not been able to make a scheme of ₹1,000 per month for women due to financial constraints. Naidu’s government has not fulfilled promises like ₹1,500 per month for women, free bus travel for women, ₹3,000 monthly unemployment allowance, ₹15,000 annual assistance for girl students’ education and ₹20,000 annual financial assistance to farmers .

Mahabharata of free features

A government spokesperson told our associate newspaper Economic Times that we have already implemented many of them. The NDA government had prepared a series of white papers, which show the very poor financial condition of the state. Lack of finance has made it difficult to fulfill these promises.

2025 will start with a big match in Delhi. Once again, this Mahabharata of free features is ready to be watched. But voters will have to read the fine print. For the first time in 31 years, Delhi is projected to go into revenue deficit by the end of 2024-25.