With the elections in the National Capital Territory Done and Dusted and the new government was sworn in, it is time to reflect on the role of freebies that played a role in shaping the people’s Voting Choices and the people’s Voting! Patronage in Electoral Politics. Besides Reduction a Large Section of the Electorate to Mere Clients, Freebies do not provide a structure solution to poverty.
It is argued that the aam aadmi party (aap) ‘s Electoral success in the previous two assemble polls was primarily due Due to Subsidized Utilities, FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION For Women, And Free Accouses Public Health Services for the Marginalized Sections of Society. The party promised freebies this time too; in fact, at a much larger scale. However, the other parties in connection, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Surpassed the aap in the bouquet of freebies it offered. The aap promised to implement the mahila samman yojana giving women 2,100 per month. In Response, The BJP Promised 2,500 monthly to women under its mahila samridhi yojana. Similarly, The Congress Announced The Pyari Didi Yojana, offering 2,500 per month to women. While the aap promised 18,000 every month to temple priests and gurdwara granthisThe BJP said it would give a free gas cylinder to the poor during holi and diwali. The BJP promised 21,000 for Nutritional Support to Pregnant Women, and the Congress Health Cover of 25 Lakh for Delhi Residents.
As for the failure of the aap to win for the third time, the argument is that the delhi election, acting like rational voters, preferred the BJP to the aap; It was argued that for the former, being in power at the center, was viewed as relatively better fitter poised to full promises, which, in any case, was more lucky. The voters also doubted the aap’s ability to deliver on the sops, as it top leaders are caused in legal wrangles and are facing the positives They, of courses, also might have factored in the aap government’s failure in Punjab And Congress; Both parties, otherwise adversaries, was intent on decimating the incumbent.
The Politics of Competitive Populism, which Delhi Witnessed, was not exceptional, as the recent assemble election Elections, freebies offered by the contending parties were said to have an Electoral Impact. Such Tall Promieses Are Being Made Knowingly in a Routine Manner, even when the economy of the concerned state is in a precarous condition, which is more often the Norm than the exception. There is no doubt that direct cash transfer or free/subSidized Access to Public Goods and Services Creates Creates Immediate Voter Appeal, Especially Among UnderPrivilege Voters, Living Votors, LIVING in UNOTHORSED Colonies and slums, who are in large numbers in any urban space of India. As the CSDS-Lokniti Surveys Show, they also Vote in Large Percentages, Thought Unfortunately Not as Poor.
Let us think about the larger implications of the entrenched political culture of freebies, which has taken patronage and clientelism that was always present to an Ominous Level. While Transient Populist Schemes, If implemented on the ground, do provide Quick relieve to the poor and mitigate hardships of poverty, there is always a question Poverty by providing enabling options structures. Parties in Power Hand out Incremental Doses of Freebies and, Consequent, Tend to Neglex Long-Term Structural Issues that are responsible for widerespread poverty and inaquality. These freebies Risk become superficial remedies and fail to improve the long-term social and economic conditions of the Poor.
The largesse, which passes on as welfare measures, needs to be integrated with planned development, which would require long-term investments of public responses in the primery sector LIKEATION Health, Sanitation, Infrastructure, Affordable Housing, and Employment Generation. Over-Reliance on Short-Term Incentrites by Vote-Seeking Parties Obscures The Urgency of Structural Reforms and Makes The Parties The Parties The Parties Complacent as they look forward to use Doles when Elections are Imminent. This is also Much Easier for Governments. To make it WorsE, these Populist Schemes are often personalized, in the form of “guarantees” in the name of the party lead, promoting person-contered leadership to the detrament of intra-party democracy.
Welfare economics sugges that policy effectiveness is dependent on context. In urban spaces like delhi, with chronic deprivation and large-scale inquality, short-term incentrites may serve as Necessary Stopgap Measures. However, without parallel investments in infrastructure and human capital, these measures are unlikely to produce laying improvements. Electoral strategies must, therefore, prioritise bot immediati welfare and long-term development to address the multifaceted challenges faced by the urban poor. The parties need to realise that the electorate’s behavior, particularly among the marginalized communities, would reflected a demand for accountability and lossing welfare over train.
Rekha Saxena is Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi, and Ashutosh Kumar is Professor of Political Science, Panjab University. The views expressed are personal
