Editorial for BP
UNBRIDLED PROFLIGATE POPULISM
Every party is desperate to get the votes of every community, religion and caste and even region. In this sport, the ruling Congress party has set the pace. This is led by a practising Christian Chief Minister whose cozying up to the leaders of the church and Christian organisations is very well publicized. We will start with the practices and promises of the Congress (I) under the Christian Chief Minister’s leadership.
The Chief Minister has declared that his is a government of minorities that is Muslims and Christians. In proof of this declaration are the measures which are already under implementation to help these two communities. Despite the matter pending in the High Court and Supreme Court, Government of Andhra Pradesh (GOAP) has implemented 4% reservation for Muslims for admission to educational institutions, especially the professional ones like Engineering and MBBS and MBA and MCA and for government jobs. GOAP is paying the entire fees of all Muslim students for all types of education. As a result for eg., while 6000 Muslims joined Engineering colleges in the year 2007, 18000 joined in the Y2008. Similar increases are there in other professional courses. Government is conducting coaching classes for Muslims to prepare them for the admission test to professional colleges. The tuition fees and books are supplied free to Muslims. GOAP is subsidizing to the extent of Rs.25,000 to Christian-s making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. GOAP is spending giving gifts of Rs.15,000 for the marriages of Muslims and Christians. GOAP is recruiting teachers and paying them for placement in Christians-run schools. It is extending mid-day meal to madrassas; all the books to the students in the madrassas are supplied free. GOAP waived Rs.500 crore debt of Moslems; Rs.1,200 crores for BCs and Rs.1,190 crore for SCs! GOAP has enhanced the pension to the physically disabled and to the senior citizens. It has lowered the age from 65 years to 60 years for payment of pension to them. It is giving Rs.1 lakh crores as loans to one crore women in the self help groups (SHG) at the fantastically low rate of 3% per year, popularized as pavala vaddi loans. These pavala vaddi loans are extended to weavers, whose debt to the extent of Rs.365 is also waived. The women in the SHG groups will be given pensions after they attaint the age of 60 years! The Congress party is promising to place washer men and some other backward castes in the Scheduled Tribe category. GOAP has created a separate department for Christians' welfare and created one state-owned Christian finance development finance corporation. There are promised that nine more such state owned corporations will be created for some groups of backward castes. GOAP has distributed Rs.1600 cr to 32 lakh farmers at Rs.5,000/- each, who did not get the benefit of the Central government’s loan waiver scheme. GOAP is constructing 80 lakh “houses” for weaker sections. It declared 82.5% of AP’s families as below poverty line (BPL). It gave them white ration cards entitling them subsidised rice, kerosene and sugar. It is paying a subsidy of Rs.20 per cylinder of domestic cooking gas. After performing marriages at government expenses, it has begun performing seemantam at government expense (Seemantam is celebration of conception by women in their fifth month of pregnancy). It has launched a scheme of supplying essential groceries for the BPL families at Rs.200/-. This covers 20kg rice, 1Kg dal, 1 Kg of Tamarind, salt, sugar, etc. It has increased the emoluments for Anganwadi workers and Vidya Volunteers. It is going to recruit about 70,000 to 80,000 employees to fill up vacancies which were declared not necessary to be filled, for the last several years. Recruitment of policemen and teachers is being speeded up to be completed before elections. It is promising electricity to farmers for six hours.
Now, the completing opposition parties have the following programs. The TDP says that whatever loans the government is giving to whomsoever at pavala vaddi, it will give for 10 Paise, Padi paise vaddi is 1.2% per annum! TDP would write off all loans of all farmers! It will give 10% (as against Congress 4%) reservation for Muslims; 10 hr free electricity for farmers; 20 kg rice free for poor families; extend reservation meant for Scheduled Caste Hindus to dalit Christians. It would withdraw government orders declaring the Tirumala Hills and Tirupati as Punya Kshetra of Hindus; where evangelism and proselytization is prohibited, it would withdraw the government order which prohibits conversion activities within a certain radius of important Hindus’ temples. Ti would give monthly groceries to the poor for Rs.100/-! All the welfare measures that the Congress is giving would be continued and improved. Chandrababu promises to give a Rs.100,000 house Free to every poor family, he would establish a Rs.3000 crore Bank for DWACRA women, give government loans, to BCs at Padi Paisala (ten Paise or 1.2% P A) interest and rice free to all poor to all poor families [as Rs.2 Kg rice is costing a mere Rs.4500 crores which is pea nuts and so can be spent); he has not promised a Bank which can loans (free) to students! (as they are not yet voters?). TDP promises free cooking gas and pensions to widows!
Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) is making all the promises which the Congress party is making and implementing and adding some more to them. Like the TDP and the Congress the PRP Chief while addressing the 71st all-State Conference of the Bible Mission, told them that he has come to the meting because of his faith in Christ; that he would be enhancing and extending subsidy to, Christians pilgrimage to Jerusalem and create a special protection force for Christians’ properties and that he would extend reservations to Christian dalits! The PRP would give a month’s groceries for Rs.50/- [in some places they have started supplying groceries at rs.50/-]. He would ensure “social justice” for all castes and communities.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has said that if the Jalayagnam’s water is indeed given to all the lands in Telangana, he would give at Rs.1/Kg rice free for all the families in the state. TRS would give 12% reservation to Moslems. The Lok Satta touted to be a principled party also promises. It says free electricity to farmers, is sustainable by improving efficiency. The communist parties and its ally, the TDP are now promising that the NREG scheme would be modified to give not hundred days work but hundred and fifty days; not Rs.100 per day but Rs.150/-per day. That NREG scheme has already made the work ethic extinct among the people does not bother them. Nor does the current rise to Rs.250/- per day in wages for agricultural labour bother them.
None of these parties have talked about limited families or more schools, better education and education for all. All of these are competing to distribute government money. Whether it will be sufficient or not, is not in their calculation. What would be the additional cost of all these welfare measures and how the resources would be mobilized; whether by new taxes imposed on what sections or by raising which taxes is not spelt out. That education limited families and savings could build human resources is not within their calculation.
It is obvious that political parties are desperate; the Congress party to retain its power and continue squandering of money and enrichment of the few. It is said that in the opinion of the Chief Minister it is wrong for everybody to aspire to be an MLA or an MP. Elections in AP should become so costly, that no more than 1400 families would be able to afford electoral contests.
Calculations go like this. AP’s population is 80 million. The voters will be about 56 million. Of them, not more that 70%, that is about 40million will vote. That party which gets 40% of the votes that is 16 million, can win almost all the seats. If a vote can be purchased at Rs.10,000 each the amount necessary is Rs.16,000 crores. If a vote it is purchased at Rs.5,000/- it will require Rs.8,000 crores. It appears that the ruling party can easily mobilize this much money. Other political parties’ calculations are that if they can spend Rs.3,000 per vote, (less amount because of anti-incumbency in their favour) they have a chance of winning. It can therefore be see how much money is going to be spent in the coming elections. This entire amount will have to be earned by using their position as legislators and ministers. That is how corruption is being built into the present electoral system. When a maid servant was questioned by a communist ideologue house wife as to whether it is not immoral to take money and vote, the very wise house-maid replied, “whose money is it that they are spending? It is our money collected through cuts in contracts and bribes. They have looted it from us. What they are giving us is what they have collected from us and therefore there is nothing wrong in accepting money for a vote. We have three votes in our family, each one will accept money from the three main contending parties, we get about Rs.12,000/- because of our votes at this time. And then there will be Zilla Parishad and Mandal and Municipal elections. We will get some more money, nothing wrong in this”.
Is this the democracy that the freedom fighters and founding fathers of our Constitution envisaged? It is the outcome of Nehruvian socialism and ‘secularism’ that is in practice for decades. Is this what the change-mongers, new parties started by film starts and evangelists are wanting? And on top of this, we are having the prospect of a civil servant beholden to the Congress party becoming the Chief of Election Commissioner on the 21st of April 2009. India is being ruined by the populist politicians. Its democracy is being fouled and vulgarised imperiled. The government says that Pakistan and USA and UK must catch hold of terrorists. It cannot catch the terrorists that are breeding here; their clansmen are its voters. It cannot prosecute, the terrorists, it may catch for want of “evidence”; it cannot execute the one who has been sentenced by the Supreme Court yet; it wants America and Pakistan and other countries to stop terrorism in India. For whom does the bell toll? Does it not toll for you and for all of us?