Karnataka BJP is banking on development and people-welfare schemes of the Centre
As the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress are engaged in competitive politics of people's welfare, even triggering a debate over 'freebies', the moot question is- Will BJP's politics of development help pave the way for its victory, overshadowing other dominant issues of caste, quota, unemployment, uniform civil code, NRC etc.
BJP on its part is showcasing various development schemes undertaken by the Modi government at the Centre and the pro-development initiatives taken by the Karnataka government. BJP is seeking a fresh term based on 'good work' done by it in the last five years to ease the life of people.
Going by the official statistics, in Karnataka under the centre's flagship' Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana' (PMAY-U) 5.77 lakh houses have been grounded and 3.07 lakh houses have been completed since 2015. Along with these houses, 46.31 lakh individual household toilets were constructed under Swachh Bharat Mission between October 2, 2014, and February 7, 2022. Karnataka government allocated Rs 764.32 billion of infrastructure budget for 2023-24 with a large 33% share for PMAY, and a 30% share for MRTS/Metro projects. In its election campaign, BJP is particularly highlighting the success of infrastructure projects such as the Bengaluru- Mysore Expressway to reap the benefits.
Fearing the positive impact of the Bengaluru-Mysore expressway and other development-oriented initiatives on voters, the Congress party is countering this mega infrastructure project by saying that it will result in the loss of a large number of small businesses.
On the other hand, BJP is upping its ante on the development agenda by promising more development-oriented initiatives like identifying 1 million housing sites for the homeless, allocation of Rs 30000 crore fund to set up micro cold storage facilities and agro-processing units in every gram panchayat to help farmers.
Karnataka BJP is banking on the development and people-welfare schemes of the Centre like PMAY, Jal Jeevan Mission, construction of toilets, Ujjawala Yojana, Ayushman Bharat Health Insurance Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Gramin Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). The Centre has built 3 crore pucca houses under PMAY in the last 9 years. Under Swachh Bharat Mission, 11 crore toilets have been built in the same period. As part of the Ujjawala Scheme, 9 crore cooking gas connections have been provided and under Ayushman Bharat, 2 crore poor people have been covered. For providing safe drinking water under Jal Jeevan Mission, 8 crore tap water connections were given while 80 crore people benefited under PMGKY.
The central government has taken several initiatives on the infrastructure front to provide a big connectivity push through highways and railways for promoting not just ease of living but also ease of doing business, in turn promoting employment. Fifty thousand kilometres of national highways were added in the last 9 years. Even the pace of national highway construction has gone up to 30 km a day in FY 23 against 12 km a day in 2014-15. A record budget of Rs 241267.51 crore was allocated for railways in FY 24 to invest in laying of new tracks, expansion of narrow-gauge to broad gauge and electrification of railway lines. Between 2014 and 2023, 37011 route km of tracks were electrified. A new target has been set by railways to lay 19km of new railway tracks per day in 2023-24 against 12 km in 2022-23.
Encouraged by the positive impact of these development and people welfare measures, the Modi government, ahead of assembly elections (including Karnataka ) and general elections, hiked the allocation for key development schemes in FY 24 budget. PMAY budget allocation was increased by 66% to Rs 79590 crore to provide a major push to the government's flagship programme, 'Housing for All'.
Moreover, PMAY was extended till March 2024. The budget of the Jal Jeevan Mission was hiked from Rs 54808 crore to Rs 69684 crore.
With its consistent focus on urban and rural development besides other welfare schemes, BJP, over the years has built a sizable 'Labharthi Vote Bank' ( beneficiaries of development schemes) as this vote bank cuts across caste and religion, it has helped BJP garner the support of even a section of Muslims, especially backward Muslims. In the last Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, BJP got 5-7% Muslim votes, mostly of Muslims belonging to the backward class.
Buoyed by it BJP has been aggressively consolidating this vote bank. In Karnataka where 40 assembly seats have a Muslim presence, this vote bank assumes significance. These Muslim voters may well turn out to be BJP's saviours and the party's politics of development may pay dividends to the party in Karnataka polls.
(The writer is a senior journalist and is columnist. The views are personal)
