A game of competitive populism is playing out in the run up to May 12 Assembly elections in Karnataka, with the BJP trying to go one up on the ruling Congress with more populist schemes listed in its manifesto unveiled on Friday. In keeping with the farmer-friendly image of its chief ministerial candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa, the BJP promised to write off farms loans up to Rs 1 lakh, borrowed from public sector banks to outdo chief minister Siddaramaiah’s gesture of waiving loans of Rs 50,000 from cooperative banks last year.
Ditto with the game to woo students and youth. Sample this: free laptops for all students joining colleges as against laptops for students from Class 10 to 12 promised by the Congress; free education to all students till degree courses except professional colleges to outdo an assurance by the Congress to provide free education to all in government schools till Class 12; free smartphones to women of BPL families while the Congress promised to gift smartphones to youth aged between 18 and 23 years. The BJP has copied the concept of “Indira Canteens” launched by the Congress government, listing 300 Mukhyamantri Annapurna canteens across the state.
The manifesto’s appeasement of the Hindu community, freebies for the SC-ST-OBCs, includes a ban on cow slaughter. With its anti-corruption pitch, one of its major poll planks, the party has promised to scrap the Anti-Corruption Bureau, restore full powers to the Lokayukta and bring in a Karnataka Whistleblowers’ Act to protect those who expose corruption. The Nava Bengaluru Act, to cater to the city’s unique needs, is the other draw. Nine days from now, it will be clear which of these competing narratives will find traction in Karnataka.
