Even as the din of electioneering is yet to reach its crescendo in the run up to the state assembly election in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Telangana (December 2023) and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan(January 2024), political parties are announcing a slew of promises of free electricity, waiver of outstanding power bills, free and uninterrupted water supply, highly subsidised LPG and good roads, with the aspiring candidates persistently hoodwinking the gullible voter with grand promises and unlimited offerings. Freebees have become like crutches for political parties to win the loyalty and allegiance of the voters for coming to power. Unfortunately, the teeming mass are mostly poor and ignorant and don’t understand that it is their own money, the taxes they paid indirectly while purchasing petrol, diesel, commodities etc. which is being squandered for such announcements. Indian election exercises are confined to freebies and caste system which politicians do play in order to hide lack of governance and development. This freebee culture has played havoc with every state’s financial resources impacting the infrastructural development and good governance the most. Free electricity, free bus travel, loan waivers by banks has turned these entities to a white elephant and a hub of corrupt practices. People are still deprived of basic facilities like better road network, potable water facility, uninterrupted power supply, affordable health and education infrastructure even after decades of populist poll promises offered by various political parties of every hue and cry. Anything given free is root cause of shortage of any commodity and so is in the case of power shortage in summer when consumption of electricity is at the peak. By increasing any amount of power production there will always be a shortage if free power is given because when something is free it is used much more and is also wasted. Instead of providing sincere, efficient and good governance, the whole concept of election is now confined to announcements of freebies to voters. Politicians do provide freebies because the money come from the taxpayer’s money and get a bigger cut for themselves in form of many perks. Freebees come at a huge price as seen in the May 2023 Karnataka assembly election where the Congress won with promises of freebees. These freebees will cost the exchequer around Rs.65,082 crore a year, according to analyst estimates. This is nearly 20 per cent of the State budget. According to Retired Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) MG Chandrakanth, currently, the state’s fiscal deficit is about Rs.60,531 crore, and adding Rs.65,082 crore amounts to a total deficit of Rs.1,25,613 crore. Worse, the BJP government at the Centre is unwilling to provide funds to the state for these freebees. In fact, it is high time there is legislation to check this ‘legal’ form of bribery which is the bane of a multi-party system bereft of any ethics or values. The ECI should ban parties making lofty promises in their election manifestos without having any budgetary provisions and treat it as violation of the model code of conduct. Legal action must be taken against political parties which are making mockery of democracy. All promises of freebees made by political parties during electioneering including announcements of big money projects should be banned by Election Commission or by the Supreme Court of India to ensure free and fair elections.
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