<p>When schoolboys play cricket on the streets, LBWs are the most contested umpiring decisions. The moment the ball hits the batsman’s leg and the appeal is uproarious, the umpire lifts his finger to signal an out. But if the batting team shouts louder, the umpire wiggles his finger sideways to suggest he meant not out.</p>.<p>A similar comedy has been playing out these past two days, since legislators in the Karnataka Assembly unanimously demanded free tickets to the IPL matches that began on Saturday. In just a day, the MLAs wrangled two tickets each, with a promise of more. You can be sure they will wave triumphantly at you, sitting cosily in Chinnaswamy Stadium in their linens, when the camera zooms in on them during the matches.</p>.<p>Since the advent of the Aam Aadmi Party, which introduced free bus travel for women in Delhi, the term ‘freebies’ has come into vogue and dominated political debates. What you would in the past call welfare schemes are now condemned as populist giveaways that ruin state finances and encourage laziness. The BJP has been the most dismissive of revdis, as it calls the ‘freebies’, although, in recent years, it has adopted an election pitch inspired by the AAP in Delhi and the Congress in Karnataka. Clearly, in Bihar, the pitch worked for the BJP and helped it take the reins of power.</p>.<p>The demand for free IPL tickets is a telling metaphor for how politicians benefit from the government’s generosity to organisations such as the Karnataka State Cricket Association. R Ashoka, who spearheaded the campaign for IPL tickets, argued that the cricket administrators should provide free tickets for legislators: “We have given them land for a monthly rent of just Rs 1,600.” This is, in effect, a brazen admission that legislators get freebies and personal privileges in lieu of government property they hand out to private and quasi-private parties. And his party has gone to town shaming citizens who benefit from ‘guarantees’, alleging that they hinder national progress!</p>.<p>Few stop to ask whether ‘freebies’ are free at all. Why are so many outraged when tax money, collected from citizens, is returned to them in the form of services? Siddaramaiah, Nitish Kumar, and Kejriwal are not handing over their individual or family wealth for you to feel embarrassed about a bus ride funded by your own tax money.</p>.<p>If women should buy bus tickets to take them to work and back, why can’t legislators pay for IPL tickets, a luxury rather than a necessity? And if it is so difficult for lawmakers to buy tickets for IPL matches, shouldn’t they spare a thought for the less affluent cricket buffs and demand lower rates? If indeed the tickets are being sold in black, as Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar has alleged, shouldn’t the people’s representatives crack the whip against the black-marketeers? If Rs 1,600 is a ridiculously low rent for the land they have leased out to the cricket association, who is stopping them from collecting a fair market rate? Neither the cricket administrators nor the legislators are impoverished, and it would be amusing, if it weren’t farcical, to watch them squabbling over free tickets.</p>.<p>And the entitlement does not stop at the tickets. MLA Kashappanavar demanded a separate VIP enclosure for legislators, declaring that “people’s representatives” do not feel comfortable mixing with common citizens. To suggest that ordinary fans are somehow beneath the dignity of an elected representative is a bizarre twist in a system that calls itself democratic.</p>.<p>It may surprise critics of ‘freebies’ that some of the richest European nations treat public services as a right, not a dole. In Germany, Sweden, France, and the UK, citizens enjoy heavily subsidised – and in many cases entirely free – bus and train travel. Students, seniors, and low-income groups get special concessions.</p>.<p>The legislators’ demand for free tickets has embarrassed some leaders. Within the BJP, MLA Suresh Kumar and MP Tejasvi Surya have spoken out against the demand. You can be sure not many of their colleagues will send back the VIP tickets that will arrive at their doors. And don’t expect them to pay any heed to the fan outrage.</p>.<p>The outrage is real, though. Faced with a backlash, Ashoka is now saying he asked for tickets not for himself but for cricketers and cricket buffs in his constituency. He is wiggling his finger to backtrack after taking a wrong call. Now, it would be funny if it weren’t so hypocritical.</p><p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
<p>When schoolboys play cricket on the streets, LBWs are the most contested umpiring decisions. The moment the ball hits the batsman’s leg and the appeal is uproarious, the umpire lifts his finger to signal an out. But if the batting team shouts louder, the umpire wiggles his finger sideways to suggest he meant not out.</p>.<p>A similar comedy has been playing out these past two days, since legislators in the Karnataka Assembly unanimously demanded free tickets to the IPL matches that began on Saturday. In just a day, the MLAs wrangled two tickets each, with a promise of more. You can be sure they will wave triumphantly at you, sitting cosily in Chinnaswamy Stadium in their linens, when the camera zooms in on them during the matches.</p>.<p>Since the advent of the Aam Aadmi Party, which introduced free bus travel for women in Delhi, the term ‘freebies’ has come into vogue and dominated political debates. What you would in the past call welfare schemes are now condemned as populist giveaways that ruin state finances and encourage laziness. The BJP has been the most dismissive of revdis, as it calls the ‘freebies’, although, in recent years, it has adopted an election pitch inspired by the AAP in Delhi and the Congress in Karnataka. Clearly, in Bihar, the pitch worked for the BJP and helped it take the reins of power.</p>.<p>The demand for free IPL tickets is a telling metaphor for how politicians benefit from the government’s generosity to organisations such as the Karnataka State Cricket Association. R Ashoka, who spearheaded the campaign for IPL tickets, argued that the cricket administrators should provide free tickets for legislators: “We have given them land for a monthly rent of just Rs 1,600.” This is, in effect, a brazen admission that legislators get freebies and personal privileges in lieu of government property they hand out to private and quasi-private parties. And his party has gone to town shaming citizens who benefit from ‘guarantees’, alleging that they hinder national progress!</p>.<p>Few stop to ask whether ‘freebies’ are free at all. Why are so many outraged when tax money, collected from citizens, is returned to them in the form of services? Siddaramaiah, Nitish Kumar, and Kejriwal are not handing over their individual or family wealth for you to feel embarrassed about a bus ride funded by your own tax money.</p>.<p>If women should buy bus tickets to take them to work and back, why can’t legislators pay for IPL tickets, a luxury rather than a necessity? And if it is so difficult for lawmakers to buy tickets for IPL matches, shouldn’t they spare a thought for the less affluent cricket buffs and demand lower rates? If indeed the tickets are being sold in black, as Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar has alleged, shouldn’t the people’s representatives crack the whip against the black-marketeers? If Rs 1,600 is a ridiculously low rent for the land they have leased out to the cricket association, who is stopping them from collecting a fair market rate? Neither the cricket administrators nor the legislators are impoverished, and it would be amusing, if it weren’t farcical, to watch them squabbling over free tickets.</p>.<p>And the entitlement does not stop at the tickets. MLA Kashappanavar demanded a separate VIP enclosure for legislators, declaring that “people’s representatives” do not feel comfortable mixing with common citizens. To suggest that ordinary fans are somehow beneath the dignity of an elected representative is a bizarre twist in a system that calls itself democratic.</p>.<p>It may surprise critics of ‘freebies’ that some of the richest European nations treat public services as a right, not a dole. In Germany, Sweden, France, and the UK, citizens enjoy heavily subsidised – and in many cases entirely free – bus and train travel. Students, seniors, and low-income groups get special concessions.</p>.<p>The legislators’ demand for free tickets has embarrassed some leaders. Within the BJP, MLA Suresh Kumar and MP Tejasvi Surya have spoken out against the demand. You can be sure not many of their colleagues will send back the VIP tickets that will arrive at their doors. And don’t expect them to pay any heed to the fan outrage.</p>.<p>The outrage is real, though. Faced with a backlash, Ashoka is now saying he asked for tickets not for himself but for cricketers and cricket buffs in his constituency. He is wiggling his finger to backtrack after taking a wrong call. Now, it would be funny if it weren’t so hypocritical.</p><p><em>Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.</em></p>
