By Persephone Minocha
Supporters gather at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally. Image: Flickr
The 2025 Legislative Assembly Elections in Delhi took place on the 5th of February, and voters in the national capital have decided to give the boot to the incumbent Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in order to welcome governance by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP is the leading party of the nationwide coalition of seventeen politically right-wing parties that make up the National Democratic Alliance and control the current government.
In recent election campaigns, the BJP has regularly criticised the AAP’s policies of providing certain services like electricity and public transport for free to Delhi residents, alleging that the policies involved handing out “freebies” in exchange for electoral votes, in a manner that was fundamentally corrupt and not economically sustainable. However, a closer look at the manifestos of both parties reveals something very interesting about what the BJP actually thinks of welfarism in politics.
"The people of Delhi have delivered a clear mandate in the election, that welfarism alone cannot keep you in power."
The AAP’s manifesto for the election was a sleek, comprehensive single-page document, outlining 15 “promises” to the people of Delhi. Named “Kejriwal’s
Guarantee”, the list included providing every woman in Delhi ₹2100 per month as a
government-sponsored stipend, free medical treatment for the elderly in both government and private hospitals, free bus travel and discounted metro travel for students and a series of other welfare and security measures. The manifesto also assured the people of Delhi that existing welfare policies implemented by the Kejriwal government, such as providing free water up to 20,000 liters per month to households, free electricity up to 200 units and free and quality education will continue to be valid, if the AAP were to be re-elected.
The BJP’s manifesto for the 2025 Delhi elections, on the other hand, was a long, detailed document of 64 pages, delving not only into the BJP’s promises for Delhi residents, but also criticizing alleged mismanagement in Delhi by the current AAP government. Professing “good governance” as its key principle, the manifesto titled literally, “Progressed Delhi Resolution Letter” made a series of promises which actually closely resembled those made by the AAP.
"in a country as large and diverse as India, even the BJP realises that one size doesn’t fit all"
A comparison of the manifestos of the BJP and AAP prepared by India Today reveals that in many parts of its manifesto, the BJP retains policies devised by the AAP, such as free bus travel for women and free electricity. Moreover, in some areas, the BJP actually went beyond the AAP in its welfare objectives. The BJP’s promise of providing ₹2500 monthly to women from low-income families under its “Women’s Prosperity Scheme”, for example, appears to be very similar to the AAP’s “Women’s Respect Scheme”, which promises to provide ₹2100 monthly to all women in Delhi.
Ultimately, it was to be the BJP who won the elections in Delhi taking 40 seats from the AAP. What’s interesting about this victory is that it seemingly wasn’t a result of marked difference in policy goals, but was rather due to various other factors such as a growing anti-incumbency sentiment, strategic campaigning by the BJP and certain scandals surrounding the AAP. Furthermore, it confirms that in Delhi welfarism is here to stay. The BJP is a Right-Wing political party operating under a strategy known as the “Gujarat Model”. This strategy espouses rapid economic development over social welfare and thus is pro-industrialist, pro-investment and pro-capitalist, with relatively less focus on social welfare goals.
Still, in a country as large and diverse as India, even the BJP realises that one size
doesn’t fit all. The BJP’s intended model of governance in Delhi appears to be starkly
different from the Gujarat Model. The fact that a right-wing party seeks to continue a
welfare-based pattern of governance in the national capital points to the fact that
welfarist policies matter to the Indian voter, and that welfarism is here to stay in
Indian politics.
Welfarism, however, may empty the government coffers as throughout the 10 years that the AAP had been in power in Delhi, the city government ran a fiscal surplus as a consequence of running such generous welfare schemes. Indeed, for the first time in 32 years Delhi is expected to run into a revenue deficit in the fiscal year 2024-25 with the burden of subsidies on the economy seen as a major reason for this deficit.
According to Reuters, if the promises by the BJP are realised after the election, it
could mean additional spending of more than ₹50 billion, pushing the share of
subsidies in the city’s budget to about 20% of total expenditure, up from 15%. With no
signs of curbing subsidy expenditure, it will be extremely difficult for the BJP, as the
inheritor of this deficit, to improve the condition of Delhi’s economy.
The people of Delhi have delivered a clear mandate in the election, that welfarism alone cannot keep you in power. Whenever welfare has been enacted correctly, it has led to human capital development, success in demographic indexes and sustainable economic growth. The Scandinavian nations are a prime example of this model. However, when freebies and pre-election goodies replace welfarism, the consequences are seldom favourable. One can only hope that the newly-elected Delhi Government practices the former and not the latter.
Comentários