Will Ashok Gehlot’s ‘welfare’ Budget woo voters in poll-bound Rajasthan?
In the last Budget of the present Congress government in Rajasthan, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced free electricity to more than 11 lakh farmers in the state, gas cylinders at Rs 500, as well as gave boost to welfare schemes. But the question is- will the state Budget 2023-24 woo voters in poll-bound Rajasthan?
Politics over freebie culture has been making headlines over the past year. But the ‘revdi culture’ –or the culture of freebies–has always been a widely-used political tool before any polls.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday announced the enactment of the Gig Workers Welfare Act, establishment of a board and a welfare fund of Rs 200 crore in his government’s Budget for 2023-24. He also said no new taxes have been announced in the state budget 2023-24.
Apart from these, farmers who consume less than 2,000 units per month will not have to pay electricity bill anymore. The Rajasthan CM also announced that beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana in the state will be able to get gas cylinders at Rs 500.
But will the Congress government’s last budget in the state before polls help the party return to power in the state?
A Rajasthan Cabinet minister said, “Ashok Gehlot is concerned about the poor. This is a budget of Ram Rajya and will help in winning trust amongst the common men of Rajasthan. It’s neither revdi nor any free budget. It’s a budget of good governance.”
School Education Minister BD Kalla said it is an unprecedented Budget for overall development. “It is a new milestone in the direction of sensitivity and accountability of the governments towards the people in the country and the state,” he added.
Minister of State for Technical Education and Ayurveda Subhash Garg said the chief minister has presented a Budget which would prove to be a milestone.
However, former state chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje came down heavily on the state budget. She said, “Congress is habitual of showing fake dreams to the common men. Till now, lakhs of farmers are waiting for their loan waiver, but the promise made by the Congress government is yet to be executed.”
With Friday’s Budget announcement, the Congress has turned up the election heat in Rajasthan. The party had earlier announced Rs 2,000 per month to women in Karnataka if the Congress is voted to power in the state assembly election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly criticised the freebie culture in politics and has come down heavily on parties using it to lure voters. However, opposition party leaders, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, have claimed that schemes for welfare for poor people can’t be counted as “revdi culture”.
