The seemingly rudderless state of this nation is amply reflected in the ‘doles raj’ that is ruining the economies of several states while the central government is simply looking the other way. Consider the scenario in Maharashtra, where the BJP seized power last year by promising the moon to the electorate in the form of doles to several vote banks in the society. Reports say the state’s first budget subsequent to the Mahayuti government’s win in the 2024 assembly polls records a record high debt of 9.3lakh crore, the steepest-ever revenue deficit of 46,000 crore, and a paralysis on the developmental front. No major new scheme has been announced and huge additional taxes have been imposed on the people – including the poor – to fetch additional revenue to carry forward the governance system.
The government is taking more from the people than it is giving to them. Worse, with egg on its face, the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance government has gone back on its word on two major fronts – a stipend scheme for women and girls; and a farm waiver for farmers – two principal vote banks that have now been fooled. The allocation for the Ladki Bahin Yojana has been cut by 10,000 crore compared to last year’s funding. The government also did away with the Shiv Bhojan, a free meals scheme for the poor. Admittedly, the BJP had not been indulging in the doles raj style of wooing the voters, while the regional parties run by unscrupulous leaders with no commitment to national causes carried it to critically high levels. In each state that indulged in doles raj, development suffered. The southern states – a hotbed of regional politicos – played mayhem with this practice. Developmental projects suffered hugely in these states in recent years. The Congress seized Karnataka from the BJP by adopting such tactics, and Andhra Pradesh’s wily Chandrababu Naidu played the same card and outwitted his rival.
Taking lessons from these poll victories, the ruling party at the Centre too chose to ignore national interests and made huge offers to the electorate, courting especially women and farmers. The BJP government at the Centre is not working wonders in most fronts and has not been able to bring change in any significant way in the last over 10 years of the Modi rule other than for an infrastructural push – and huge cuts from these for the saffron party’s poll funds. The NDA government’s main credit and reason for sustainability is that the economy has not been mismanaged, unlike the pitiable scenarios in India’s immediate neighbourhood. But, by unwittingly experimenting with the doles raj system in state assembly polls, and having tasted success as in Maharashtra, the BJP and also the Congress would again be tempted to undercut national interests for their immediate electoral gains. Excesses of any kind must be arrested through effective intervention by the Supreme Court.
