E-Paper
Will distribution of sops carry weight in UP polls?
UP polls: Successive governments have used every opportunity to distribute such freebies and sops or announce them close to elections
Distribution of dole or sops appears to have the power to influence people to a considerable extent, even getting committed voters of any political party to explore other options ahead of or in the midst of any election over the years in Uttar Pradesh.
So, successive governments have used every opportunity to distribute such freebies and sops or announce them close to elections.
The political parties, including those in power or the ones in opposition, also make such promises laden with sops in their respective election manifestos released ahead of the assembly or parliamentary polls.
Besides free ration to nearly 1.5 million people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), distribution of relief, financial assistance or loan to people of different sections including migrant workers, labourers, vendors and traders in recent months, the BJP governments led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath have also implemented various health and housing schemes over the years.
“Yes, priority household ration card holders are getting wheat/rice 5 kg per unit while Antyodaya card holders are getting 35 kg per family along with 1 kg salt, edible oil, chana dal (pulse) 1 kg free. Free distribution se aadat kharaab ho rahi hai. Kewal patra ko milna chaahiye. (Free distribution is spoiling the people. Only those eligible should get the ration free),” said Vidya Kant Shukla, head of Dharaon Gazpat village panchayat in Prayagraj district.
“The Centre is also giving additional 5 kg wheat/ rice and 35 per kg for antyodaya card holders. The beneficiaries are getting the free ration twice since December 2021,” added Shukla.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, a sum of ₹500 is being transferred per month to the beneficiaries. A sum of ₹1000 was transferred as sustenance allowance to registered vendors, daily wagers, e-rickshaw drivers, barbers and boatmen in mid-2021.
The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Har Ghar Nal Yojana (being implemented in Bundelkhand to provide clean drinking water to the people in the region), Ayushman Bharat and Ujjawala (cooking gas) are some other schemes benefitting the people directly.
“A large section of people in our society are poor. They are getting all such relief and benefits. Most people view this in the short term and get affected by help. Lesser enlightened persons and poorer sections of society getting such help may opt to vote for the party in power in any poll,” said Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the department of political science, Lucknow University.
“For the poor, the distribution of ration or relief material is helpful. They have been given houses and gas connections, too. When the Akhilesh Yadav government distributed laptops, it was criticised. The BJP is doing this on a much larger scale,” said AK Singh, former director of the Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow.
The major opposition parties claim a strong anti-incumbency against the BJP government even as the ruling party is defending this as much needed relief that began before announcement of the polls.
“The BJP is certainly making efforts to misuse government funds to influence voters. But this will not make any difference,” said Samajwadi Party national spokesman and former minister Rajendra Chaudhary.
The Congress also targets the BJP on the issue.
“The Congress brought the right to food. They (BJP government) are claiming that free food grains are being distributed to 15 crore persons. This is a reflection on how such a large number of people of the state are not in a position to earn food for themselves. This is also a reflection on the poor economic scenario in Uttar Pradesh,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) vice-president Pankaj Srivastava.
Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesman Avnish Tyagi counters this by saying, “The distribution of free ration and other relief began to help people in the fight against Covid-19. There is nothing new in this as the help is given to the people much before announcement of the 2022 assembly elections. The relief is being given to people to help them and not as any allurement to vote.” The Uttar Pradesh government had started doling out freebies in the festival season in 2021 and recently began the distribution of smartphones and laptops free of cost to nearly 6.5 million educated youths. The state cabinet met at least thrice before announcement of the model of conduct in January to take populist decisions that included increase in subsidy to bring down to 50 per cent the power tariff applicable to 1.3 million private tube wells.
