Home Minister Amit Shah with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The NDA in Bihar appears to be following the successful Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh playbook as it announces schemes targeted especially at women and youth, instilling some worries in the Opposition camp ahead of the Assembly polls.
With the I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s "Voter Adhikar Yatra" creating ripples in the state, the JD(U)-BJP combine has accelerated the announcement of schemes targeted at specific voter groups, like a promised unemployment allowance or for setting up small-scale industries.
It also comes close on the heels of the I.N.D.I.A bloc announcing a 10-point promise for the Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), which includes land for the landless, earmarking half of the reserved seats in private schools for SC/ST/OBC/EBCs, and quota in private institutions.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced Rs 10,000 for women to start small-scale businesses, increased pension amounts, free electricity, and unemployment allowances, among others the past four-five months, with money already transferred in some cases.
The BJP successfully used the Ladli Behena Yojana in both Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh ahead of elections. In Jharkhand, the I.N.D.I.A bloc also used the "Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana" to return to power.
“There is an impropriety in governments announcing such schemes with elections just in sight. It gives ruling parties an undue advantage. It is brazen, objectionable,” political analyst Rasheed Kidwai told DH.
He warned that such inducements might not always work, as one saw with the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress in Rajasthan, the K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS in Telangana, and the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
“If the popular mood is against you, no schemes can help,” observed Kidwai.
The Opposition camp is closely watching the JD(U)-BJP’s moves, and is expected to counter them.
While the BJP has centred its campaign around “infiltration”, as it did during last year's Jharkhand elections, albeit with little success, there is some uneasiness in the JD(U) camp over the issue, as well as the perception that the saffron party is trying to usurp its space.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday unveiled various youth-focused initiatives worth around Rs 62,000 crore, with a special emphasis on Bihar.
The JD(U)-BJP combine is hopeful that women voters will continue to stick with Nitish due to his Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana, in which Rs 10,000 is being credited for starting small businesses, with the amount expected to be increased to Rs 2 lakh in phases.
As for the youth, the Bihar government has announced Rs 1,000 for unemployed graduates for two years. Social security pension for the elderly, the disabled, and widows was raised from Rs 400 to Rs 1,000 in June, while journalists’ pension rose from Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000, with mediapersons' widows eligible for Rs 10,000.