Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal has promised free electricity to the people of Gujarat if they are voted to power in the state, which goes to polls this year-end. What benefit would AAP get from this? The answer quite frankly is ‘none’, given the history that the people of Gujarat have always believed in Modi’s ‘delivery’ rather than any enticements from the opposition.
Two days ago, I chanced upon a tweet from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal that said the party, if it comes to power in the state, will offer the people 300 units of electricity per month for free. Not only this, all villages and urban areas will get uninterrupted supply of electricity every day and that the old electricity bills till December 31, 2021 will be waived.
After 20 minutes, Kejriwal realised that the electricity bills in Gujarat are generated every two months and not every month. So, he sent another tweet in clarification that the consumer will get 600 units of electricity for free. Before a question could even be raised that such offers could create a Sri Lanka-like situation in India, Kejriwal explained in another tweet that free sops to the public is are just “god’s offerings”.
Free Sops Not Popular in Gujarat
Only an economist can offer a better explanation to this offer of Kejriwal, many of whom have said the present situation in Sri Lanka is due to the culture of free sops. Many states in India are in a bad shape due to the offer of free sops but the question is whether the people of Gujarat will fall for such offers. For them, free offers are not important for an administration, which takes the state on the path of economic development where entrepreneurs will create wealth on their own and contribute to the society. The leaders from north India do not have the inkling that Gujarat has hundreds such entrepreneurs who have pumped crores of rupees into the uplift of their villages than pocketing money of others.
After watching the politics of Gujarat closely for more than two decades, one can saythat there is nothing new in these free sops and election-time promises. In the past too, leaders and parties have made exciting promises but the people of Gujarat never believed them, and instead have always expressed their faith in Modi who has offered them a strong and better administration, and his winning streak in Assembly elections is the example.
When Keshubhai Patel Promised Free Electricity
It’s not that free electricity has been promised to the people of Gujarat for the first time by an Opposition party. Keshubhai Patel, who had resigned from the BJP just before the 2012 assembly elections, and formed a new party named Gujarat Parivartan Party, had tried to challenge Modi, who was the chief minister at that time. One needs to remember that Keshubhai Patel was the chief minister of the first BJP government that was formed in 1995 in Gujarat. He became the CM for the second time but when Gujarat witnessed the worst earthquake in 2001, Keshubhai was not able to carry out the relief works efficiently and was removed from the post and then Modi took over. Keshubhai then started distancing himself from the BJP, and eventually left.
Under the banner of Gujarat Parivartan Party, Keshubhai had 177 candidates in the 2012 Assembly elections. To entice voters in rural areas, he promised free power for irrigation to some 47 lakh farmers. But when the election results were announced, it was clear that people of Gujarat had not expressed their faith in him. His party could barely manage two seats — one in Visawadar, where he had contested, and another one in Dhari. The Patel community he belonged to even they did not take his promises of free electricity seriously. Keshubhai’s close aide and party’s general secretary Gordhan Zadafia lost the Gondal seat where Patels were in majority. His offer of free electricity did not break any ice with the voters and Gujarat Parivartan Party failed to get any vote. AAP must bear this incident in mind.
Congress’ Free Housing Plan Failed to Entice Voters
As far as the election promises are concerned, the biggest offer to the voters in two decades was made by the Congress in the 2012 elections when the party promised ‘Gharanu Ghar’. The last time the Congress had won an election in the state was in 1985, and in the 2012 elections, it had tried specially to entice women voters in a big way. The party had promised that in eight municipal corporations and 156 corporations, those who do not have a house will get a new one in the name of a woman of the family. It was promised that if the Congress comes to power, they will build 3 lakh houses every year and allot them to the people. The Congress offices in the state even distributed forms and a beeline of people could be seen outside for days.
Women Voters Behind Modi ‘Bhai’
When the 2012 election results were declared, Congress was at its wit’s end. Gujarat women voters had expressed their faith in ‘Bhai’ Narendra Modi who addressed them as “sisters”, and has been helping them in their hour of need for the past one decade. Therefore, women voters expressed their faith in Modi and not the Congress who had promised them a house. People voted for the BJP under the leadership of Modi third time in a row. BJP won 115 seats while the Congress could secure only 61 seats. Even the leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil had lost.
Modi’s Clean Administration Vs Sops
It’s not that Modi was not under pressure from the party leaders and workers to offer sops to the public to match the offers of opposition parties. But Modi did not give any weight to the culture of sops. He told his supporters that if he too wanted to adopt the same means as the Opposition, then there will be no difference between his party and others. He said it is better that such people are not part of the government itself.
In the 2007 Assembly elections, while working on the Jyoti Gram Project since 2007, Modi was determined to ensure 24X7 electricity to the people of Gujarat and had also ensured pilferage be stopped, which was quite rampant in rural areas. So, he made it mandatory for farmers to install separate electricity meters even for domestic consumption. Special police stations got established to monitor theft of electricity. Huge hoardings were put up on public buses, which showed power theft accused in handcuffs. Party leaders feared that such hoardings may anger villagers and could lead to loss of votes.
No to Distributing Narmada Project Water for Free
The Congress was not only talking about reducing the rate of the electricity used for farming but was also in the favour of taking back all cases of electricity theft in the past. But Modi did not budge. He was confident of the pride in Gujarati people who did not like sops but were more in favour of a clean government under which they could chart their own course. Modi won their confidence by providing 24X7 electricity and not by doling them sops. Modi showed the same steely resolve when he did not agree to distribute water from Sardar Sarovar Project for free while the Opposition was clamouring for this. He did not want this project to get trapped in an economic crisis.
The Gauntlet of ‘Nyay’ Could Not Deter Modi
When Modi was readying for the 2019 Parliamentary elections, the Congress had announced a very enticing ‘Justice’ scheme. It was called the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (minimum income scheme) known as ‘न्याय’. By this scheme, the Congress had promised that around 20% of poor families of the country will be given Rs 72,000 per year. At that time, all political pundits had termed this as a master stroke. It seemed that the Congress may turn the table this time but when the results were announced, people came to know that those in rural areas benefited from Ujjwala Yojana, had voted for Modi. People did not believe in the promise of ‘Nyay’ made by the Congress, and instead by voting for Modi created a block of “beneficiary class”.
Opposition Leaders Do Not Learn from History
All these are enough to drive home the point that one cannot push Modi behind with such doles of free sops. An administration, which could take hard decisions, and is free of corruption is more important for the people. Even the people of the country and those from Gujarat have proved this. So, the opposition parties will do good and bear in mind this when it campaigns for Gujarat elections this year. The culture of free sops is not going to help but only a positive agenda will.
Kejriwal’s problem is that one of his ministers is in jail on charges of corruption and another one is about to face the music as the long arm of the law is about to reach him. In such a case, the promise of a corruption-free administration will not cut much ice with the people of Gujarat. Be it the 2017 Assembly elections or the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, personal attacks on Modi did not bring desired result. So, Kejriwal is trying to entice people the of Gujarat with the offer of free electricity. But he is not aware that such theatrics never work in Gujarat. Before him, many tried such tricks but they all bruised their nose. The tragedy of history is that everyone reads it but nobody learns from it.
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