New Felhi (TIP)- In 1985, when the Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran met the then deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Manmohan Singh, to discuss expenditure for a three-year-old mid-day meal scheme for children in his state, it would have been difficult to foretell that four decades hence, such plans would become the mantra to win elections.
In 2025, political sops – disparagingly referred to as freebies – have morphed into the biggest tool for wooing the electorate. The high-stakes Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the country have seen the mainstreaming of freebies as political parties compete in making promises in their manifestos—from mass employment to free electricity and free bus travel for women to cash benefits and subsidised gas cylinders – you name it.
Women-centric schemes seem the favourite of politicians: assembly poll results in Chhattisgarh, MP, Haryana and in Odisha, prompted the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra to do the same, gaining convincingly.
The ruling BJP, once opposed to distributing election freebies, has now outdone the others. After a 63-seat loss in the Lok Sabha in June last year, the party has had a change of heart.
With the 70-strong Delhi assembly elections due early February, it’s raining sops in the national capital. A bird eye’s view of India’s welfarist state.
In Delhi, the AAP has a virtually unbeatable record. Now, in its quest for a third term, the party’s list of welfarism includes raising Mahila Samman Yojana from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 per month and a Sanjeevani scheme to provide free health care to those above 60. The party said 1.3 million people had registered for the first and 15,000 for the second.
For autorickshaw drivers, AAP has promised life and accident insurance for Rs 15 lakh, annual uniform allowance of Rs 2,500 and Rs 1 lakh for their daughters’ weddings.
Other promises include a monthly allowance of Rs 18,000 for pujaris and granthis. For Delhi’s residents’ welfare associations, the AAP has promised an unspecified amount as security financing. Waving off ‘inflated’ water bills is another pledge.
The Congress has its own assurances: Rs 8,500 for skill training of the unemployed, Rs 2,500 as pyaari didi yojana and Rs 25 lakh insurance under Jeevan Raksha Yojana for Delhi.
If official announcements were not enough, charges are flying fast and thick: AAP leaders allege that the BJP is `buying’ votes in Delhi. Allegations of cash-for-votes have already begun.
In the Haryana assembly elections, the BJP announced Rs 2,100 monthly allowance for women, scooters for girl students, free dialysis for patients and two lakh government jobs. For the Maharashtra assembly polls, as many as 146 freebies were given out by the BJP-led NDA. These included a monthly payment of Rs 2,100 to a woman per month costing Rs 46,000 crore to the exchequer, a monthly stipend for students, increased benefit for farmers and a new Akshay Anna Yojana for providing kitchen essentials every month to families.
In Jharkhand, the ruling JMM’s attempt to target 12.8 million women voters in the 2024 November’s assembly elections worked. Source: Livemint