As the parties start unwrapping their box of goodies, one wonders if Punjab voters will be swayed

Ahead of the 2022 elections to the Punjab Assembly, a ‘power’ tussle has already broken out between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. As is generally the case with our political parties, the war of words that has just started pertains to offering certain number of free electricity units to the State’s residents. The guns came out after AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, hoping to bag Punjab this time after a failed attempt in 2017 when it could win only 20 seats, announced that his party would deliver 24-hour electricity, 300 units free for each family and a waiver on previous power bills. To underline the seriousness of his promised intent, he pointed to Delhi where he had made similar promises ahead of the polls there. Meanwhile, the Congress-ruled Punjab Government, which had entered office ending the 10-year rule of the Akali-BJP alliance Government, was nudged by the party high command to fulfil a similar promise it had made before the last elections. It was conveyed to the State leadership in no uncertain terms that the electricity fee waiver announcement should come sooner than later.

Interestingly, however, the moot point here is that the Punjab Government’s coffers are far from overflowing, making one wonder that whichever bigger mouth ultimately succeeds in forming the Government, how such tall promises are going to be fructified. As per reports, the State is reeling under a debt of Rs 2.73 lakh crore. In another report, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has estimated that the State’s public debt will touch Rs 3.73 lakh crore by 2024-25. So far, the other players — including the BJP, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BSP — have desisted from revealing their cards. In a nutshell, what the populist development so far amounts to is which of the contesting parties would offer a bigger share of freebies and sops to the State’s electorate. Shamefully, such utterances by the various political parties and leaders amount to indirectly influencing the voters and inducing them to vote for a particular outfit in lieu of a dole or pecuniary benefits. So what if it isn’t wads of currency notes directly changing hands? The principle of bribing voters with cash or in kind can never be good for a healthy and vibrant democracy, least of all for the world’s largest democracy.