Rahul's promise steps up pressure on govt

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s declaration on Monday that, if elected to power, his party would provide the country’s poor with a minimum income, came as a surprise, much as his earlier announcement about bringing his charismatic sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into the picture just weeks before the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Mr Gandhi’s recent moves can leave no one in doubt, especially secular regional parties, that he is playing for real. As for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader’s plan is likely to increase pressure on his government to throw more promises to the electorate in the Budget that will be presented on February 1.

In government and BJP circles, some amount of panic had set in after Mr Gandhi led his party to victory in three Hindi heartland states last month, primarily on the basis of the Congress’ promise to waive farmers’ loans in view of the prevailing agricultural distress. Making good within days of victory only served to raise the stakes for the BJP-led NDA government.

In principle, the BJP has shown itself not to favour loan waivers and subsidies, but is likely to revise its stand on ground of tactical considerations. We must wait for the Budget so see how far the Modi government is ready to go to appease the electorate. The 10 per cent reservation for upper castes too is a step in that direction.

Mr Gandhi has indicated that details of his party’s plan for the poor will be spelt out in the party’s manifesto, the job of writing which has been left to a team coordinated by former finance minister P. Chidambaram. Chances are that the basic outline has already been prepared and that the document will be hammered into shape after looking at the Budget pronouncements.

What the Congress president has revealed so far is that a certain basic sum of money will be transferred into the bank accounts of all unemployed persons in the country, to be followed by all poor persons, regardless of age. As Mr Gandhi noted at his Raipur farmers’ rally where he disclosed his party’s stand, a “New India” cannot be built when millions in the country suffer the scourge of poverty. This is a dig at the PM, who has spoken of a “New India” without specifying any pro-poor plans.

For Mr Gandhi, what he proposes appears to be a hark back to his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s famous “Garibi Hatao” campaign of 1971. Mr Chidambaram says that existing schemes like MNREGA (brought in by the UPA earlier) will not be affected by the rollout of a minimum income for the poor, which may well cover 75 per cent of the country. Fiscal prudence too can be maintained.  There may be pressure on the government to better this.