Focus on freebies: BJP gets it wrong again?

Ever since the Congress government in the state started the implementation of its five poll guarantees despite the huge costs involved, the BJP, now in the opposition, has been going hammer and tongs at the new government for its ‘conditional’ fulfilment of the promises.

There is no doubt that it was the announcement of the poll guarantees which included free power up to 200 units and free bus travel for women, which propelled the Grand Old Party to power in Karnataka after being in political wilderness for four years.

There are many more promises to be fulfilled including the unemployment dole for graduates and diploma holders and also the allowance for women heads of families. It is generally accepted that some of the conditions may deprive large sections of society of the benefits of free power.

Many may also feel the pinch when the conditions for the other freebie scheme are announced. However the people and most of all, the poor and the middle classes are not yet complaining for they know that ‘something is better than nothing’.

After gone through harrowing times during the previous BJP government’s tenure including price rise, galloping unemployment and the unrest due to the playing up of communal issues, voters no doubt were looking for a respite which explains why the Congress won such an overwhelming mandate grabbing 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly.

And now that the poll guarantee are being implemented one by one, it’s time for the BJP to look for more substantial issues to corner the Siddaramaiah government rather than pick holes in the implementation of the guarantees.

Being in the opposition, people look to the BJP to play the role of a responsible opposition by taking up issues which will help them regain lost ground before the parliament polls, now just a year away. Harping on the ‘shortcomings in the Congress guarantees may help them regain some support among voters but surely not to the extent of helping them win the 25 seats which was their tally in the 2019 parliament elections.

 For one, the BJP will have to build a new leadership after the existing leadership failed to deliver results in the polls. While BS Yediyurappa is no longer his original self with age taking its toll, others like former CMs Basavaraj Bommai and Sadananda Gowda have miserably failed in galvanizing the party to at least reach a respectable tally near the 100-seat mark.

While fresh issues - social, political and economic - are sure spring up as the Congress government sets out to fulfil its vows, the opposition BJP needs a dynamic leadership which can pick up these issues and prove to the people that they are a viable alternative.

However, no visible effort has been made in the one month after the Assembly poll results to build up an alternative leadership which the people can look forward to in future. Any comeback the BJP top brass is planning will happen only if the reins of the party are transferred from the tried and tested leadership to a new batch of leaders who can take on the vastly experienced Congress top order head-on.

 Such a revival will also call for brainstorming of an extensive kind. Some of the poll promises are sure to fall short of expectations but they are likely to benefit lakhs of people who could be more than happy to have a few hundred or thousand rupees added to their pockets because of the freebies, where they was none earlier. As a wisecrack joked, right now, BJP leaders seem to be giving more publicity to the poll guarantees with their campaigns against it, than Congress leaders themselves!