BJP States Go All Out With Populist Schemes

Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.

Presenting the state budget on June 29, Maharashtra's Finance Minister Ajit Pawar unveiled a slew of welfare measures in a bid to sway the electorate ahead of the assembly polls.

Among the highlights were: A Rs 1,500 monthly allowance for women and three free cooking gas cylinders for poor households.

A few days later in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh's Finance Minister Jagdish Devda introduced a budget that promised a 15 per cent increase in spending on agriculture and allied activities.

Not stopping there, he announced a scheme to provide free hearse services to poor families and increased funding for cow sheds.

These announcements follow the June 4 Lok Sabha election results, with state governments, either run by the Bharatiya Janata party or its allies, making significant welfare promises, such as welfare schemes for women and the poor, greater assistance to the agrarian sector, curb on examination paper leaks, and filling vacancies in government departments.

In Maharashtra and Haryana, both facing assembly elections in October, the state governments have taken the lead with targeted schemes.

Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and MP, too, have made similar promises.

Rajasthan's BJP government, sticking to its promises, has upped the annual PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) disbursement to Rs 8,000, benefiting nearly 7 million farmers.

In Haryana, the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government has announced free bus rides to the poor, plots for backward communities, and special drives to recruit youths in government.

These moves come against a backdrop of changing voter sentiment, with a recent post-poll survey by Lokniti-CSDS highlighting the BJP's lost ground among women and farmers in key states.

The survey, posted on X by co-director Sanjay Kumar, indicated that 'farmers' anger hurt the BJP' in Rajasthan and Haryana.

In Rajasthan, 46 per cent farmers voted for the Congress and 45 per cent for the BJP, the post-June 4 survey said.

But among non-farmers, the support for the BJP was 51 per cent and only 39 per cent for the Congress.

In Haryana, 61 per cent farmers voted for the Opposition INDIA bloc and only 35 per cent for the BJP.

In contrast, among non-farmers, 44 per cent voted for the INDIA bloc and 49 per cent for the BJP.

According to Kumar, it would also be an 'overstatement' to claim that women's vote has shifted towards the BJP.

The survey indicated that women voted differently in different states.

For example, they voted in greater numbers for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal (53 per cent for TMC versus 33 per cent for BJP), but for the BJP and Janata Dal-United-led NDA in neighbouring Bihar (50 per cent for NDA versus 37 per cent for the INDIA bloc).

They preferred the INDIA bloc in UP (45 per cent for INDIA versus 42 per cent for NDA).

The message of the Lok Sabha polls, however, has percolated even in states where the BJP performed well.

In MP, where the BJP swept all the 29 seats with a massive 59.27 per cent vote share, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has repeatedly dismissed any suggestion that his government may discontinue or reduce the funding for the immensely popular 'Ladli Behna Yojana'.

The Yadav government's first Budget reflected a strong focus on women and child development and health which received 56 per cent more allocation than the previous year.

The Budget announced a 15 per cent increase in agricultural expenditure, including Rs 125 per quintal bonus for wheat over the Centre-fixed MSP for the 2024-2025 season.

Haryana's BJP vote share dropped from 58.2 per cent in 2019 to 46.11 per cent in 2024, with the INDIA bloc surpassing the BJP by a percentage point.

The party won only five of the 10 seats, which it swept five years ago.

Despite this, political analysts like Pramod Kumar of the Institute for Development and Communication caution against premature conclusions about a Congress win in the upcoming assembly polls.

"The BJP government faces a 10-year long anti-incumbency. At least for now, it is bereft of a competing narrative against the Opposition's focus on livelihood and farming issues. There is also the farmer movement, which is unabated, and it remains to be seen how the government resolves it," he said.

In Rajasthan, the BJP's robust 49.24 per cent vote share in the Lok Sabha polls translated into fewer seats, down from 24 in 2019 to 14, as it lost in the farming belt in Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu, and Ganganagar, and tribal areas.

Since June 4, the state government has reduced VAT (value-added tax) on petrol and diesel by 2 per cent, making fuel cheaper for consumers.

Rajasthan had one of the highest taxes on petrol and diesel.

Uttar Pradesh's BJP-led NDA, trailing with 36 seats to the INDIA bloc's 43 in the Lok Sabha polls, saw the Yogi Adityanath government announce stringent measures, including plans for a law, to curb cheating in government recruitment exams, a major concern among the youth (MP, too, is planning a similar step).

Plans are also underway to provide free power to irrigation pumps, with certain conditions.

In Maharashtra, where the BJP-led Mahayuti won 17 seats against the Maha Vikas Aghadi's 30, the welfare schemes for women, youth, farmers and the poor, announced in the state Budget, shall cost an additional Rs 80,000 crore.

Key highlights include covering electricity bills for farmers, free power to agriculture pumps up to 7.5 horsepower, Rs 350 per quintal subsidy for onion farmers, and Rs 5 per litre subsidy for milk farmers.

Additionally, a Rs 5,000 per acre bonus for cotton and soybean growers and increased compensation for deaths due to animal attacks (from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh) were announced.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com