Welfare schemes 'bulldoze' politics of polarisation

New Delhi: Rs 1250 for women each month, gas cylinders at Rs 500, scooters for schoolgirls, 200 units of free electricity – are some of the promises made by the BJP in various states.

This marks a concerted move from the communal undertones of its campaigns in states like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and even Assam, where ‘bulldozer’ politics, conversations around citizenship and conversions were the party’s key election agenda points.

In the run-up to elections in five states, the BJP has had to revive welfarism as a central theme to woo the electorate. Most significantly, it also marks a departure from the ‘revdi culture’ narrative the party had sought to build earlier to criticise the opposition for doling out freebies.

Senior BJP leaders said this is just a reiteration of the Modi government's developmental agenda, while Opposition leaders especially those from the Congress aver that a push from their leaders, including the Bharat Jodo Yatra, has pushed the BJP into a corner.

In Madhya Pradesh, for instance, the turning point for the BJP came after the launch of the Ladli Behna Scheme, under which CM Shivraj Chouhan is now giving women Rs 1250 monthly. Political observers say that the scheme could prove to be crucial. This is a change from 2022 when PM Modi slammed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for ‘revdi’ or the political culture of freebies.

KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary (organisation) said the Karnataka elections were a learning curve. "The agenda of polarisation does not always work – they jeered at us when we made poll guarantees in Karnataka and then went ahead to make similar promises in Rajasthan, MP and Telangana," he said.
Dr K Laxman, national president of the OBC Morcha of the BJP and a member of its Parliamentary Board said there needs to be a distinction drawn between 'freebies' and 'welfare measures'. "Most of PM Modi’s guarantees are performance-linked incentives. If we’re providing free urea, then it will lead to more output by farmers. PM Modi is looking at infrastructural development and welfare, and by ensuring that there are no middlemen, we are reaching the accounts of the people directly," Laxman said.

Srivatsa YB, Congress functionary in Rahul Gandhi’s team, said that the Bharat Jodo Yatra marked a turning point. “The BJP had an established path of polarisation and the Yatra showed how the people of this country do not want communalism. Rahul Gandhi and Congress are now setting the agenda and the BJP is responding to it,” he said, adding that in areas where the Yatra went, voters are more charged and driven.
Welfarism again is at the heart of the Congress key demand ahead of the 2024 elections – a caste census. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahastrabuddhe said the party's narrative has always been based on the 'politics of performance'.

"The appeal for BJP is based on the endorsement of performance; we have perfected the mechanism of delivering democracy and development. We always have something to tell. What marks PM Modi apart is that it makes people aspire and not stick to the status quo," Sahasrabuddhe said.

The concept of state-based doles is however likely to stay. The BJP’s new campaign is Viksit Bharat which hopes to make India a developed nation by 2047. Dr Laxman says that the BJP’s 2024 campaign will be woven around a promise to make India the third-largest economy.

Political commentator Radhika Ramaseshan says that the success in UP, where the votes in response to doles during the pandemic spurred the BJP to try it in other states, indicates that we can expect to have more such promises for the big wrestle in 2024. 

“This is a template that we will see very much in action in the coming months. Expect the BJP to pull out several rabbits out of its hat,” Ramaseshan says. 

Praveen Chakravarthy, chairman of the Congress’s Data Analytics Department, said the BJP is taking a leaf out of the Congress’s book.

“It is obvious that the BJP has copied the Congress election manifesto strategy. But as they say, imitation is the best form of flattery. The blessing in disguise for India is that communal division is being superseded by livelihood issues, thankfully so,” Chakravarthy said.