A Political Bribery

The Budget outlay, presented by India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, prioritises partisan politics over people. It exemplifies how the party in power that runs the government weaponises the country’s finances for political gain.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand–states where the BJP and its allies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United), are in power–have been allocated a significant chunk of resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t look beyond Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to protect his government. In protest four chief ministers, including three from Congress-ruled states announced their decision to boycott NITI Aayog [formerly Planning Commission] meeting.

Andhra Pradesh was allocated 15,000 crores to develop the state capital, Amaravati. Bihar was given 11,500 crores. Himachal Pradesh will receive ‘multilateral development assistance.’ So will Uttarakhand, Assam and Sikkim. Ostensibly, this financial assistance is meant to help the states recover from the devastating impact of climate calamities such as flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslides.

The special assistance to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar is a significant departure from the previous decade. Despite numerous demands, the Modi government did not offer financial assistance to the two states in the last ten years. In fact, they were starved of the resources necessary for the development of the state.

However, post-2024 elections, that equation changed. Chandra Babu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, key allies with whose support Modi became the Prime Minister for the third term, have seemingly managed to arm-twist the Modi government to allocate funds to their states.

In that sense, Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget outlay signals fiscal adjustments to accommodate ‘political compulsions’ rather than a genuine concern to help the people of the states. It also shows how the Modi government penalises states that voted against Modi’s brand of politics. Simply put, the Budget, which should reflect prudent fiscal outlay, has been weaponised to favour political allies. It is a ‘political bribery’–grease that helps keep Modi in power.

There is no denying the fact that flash floods have ravaged Assam, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim in the last year. People of those states have faced significant challenges, and a fiscal package to help rebuild those states is much needed.

But what about other flood-prone states, such as West Bengal? West Bengal has 37,660 sq. km of flood-prone area spread over 111 blocks. An analysis of the flood statistics shows that the state did not face severe floods on only five occasions. Why wasn’t West Bengal offered special monetary assistance to rebuild its infrastructure?

Why didn’t the Modi government, which provided fiscal assistance to Assam, offer it to the neighbouring state, which was equally affected by climate catastrophe? Why didn’t the Finance Minister offer ‘special financial packages’ to the people of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, or Punjab?

Slogans like ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ ring hollow when the country’s financial outlays are weaponised to penalise those who did not vote for the party in power. A country’s Budget must not be a political statement. It must be a financial statement that works for the development of the country, not an ugly manifestation of partisan politics that prioritise the interests of a few political allies.

In short the budget is basically anti-people. There is no plan to create jobs though mounting unemployment is the burning issue of the day. Farmers have been demanding the enactment of minimum support price Act for five years. But there is no mention about it in the budget.

[Contributed]

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 7, Aug 11 - 17, 2024