By Dr. Duggaraju Srinivasa Rao

The election results of the five states, especially the Uttar Pradesh, are being critically analyzed by both the loosing political parties and the media. Many reasons are attributed to the record breaking electoral victory of BJP in all the four states where it was in power. Overcoming the anti-incumbency itself is a great achievement these days for any party. BJP overcame that in not one state but in four states itself is a great political achievement. The Congress which lost Punjab, the only state where it was in power, attributed its defeat to its change of Chief Minister before the elections. Compared to that BJP achieved victory in Uttarakhand despite changing the CMs not once but thrice during the last five years. This time around there is no visible Hindutva in the election campaign, especially in UP where Ayodhya which was dominant during past elections was found missing this time. The Hindutva has no value in Punjab, Goa and Manipur where Sikhs and Christians are in majority. So the victory of BJP has to do more with the administration they gave to the people and the welfare schemes they implemented in earnest.

Welfare schemes are not exclusive for the BJP governments. The Punjab government of Congress has also implemented welfare schemes and promised many more schemes if voted to power. The SP when in power during the 2012-17 period was not lagging in the implementation of the welfare schemes. Now it is an accepted norm in politics where the ruling party in the state makes its own beneficiaries and firming up them as its vote banks. Indira Gandhi did this for Congress during her regime. V.P. Singh tried to build Mandal Vote Bank through reservations. At the state level such pampering a particular vote bank is in progress. It is these welfare schemes which is keeping Naveen Patnaik in power in Odisha for the last five terms. His grip on the people through welfare is so firm that it is very difficult for opponents to dislodge him from power. Jaganmohan Reddy of Andhra Pradesh is believing his nine welfare schemes, which he calls them as nine gems, to come back to power in 2024. He is sticking to the distribution of money to the voters through the welfare schemes at the cost of financial decline of the state and debt over burden on Andhra Pradesh. The Telangana CM KCR claims himself to be the innovator of welfare schemes which no other or even Modi government can ever think of. But KCR is not confident of his return to the power in 2023 unless he goes back to the Telangana sentiment and presents the neighbouring Andhra people as the villains.

Then what makes the BJP governments so special in welfare schemes and its implementation. Narendra Modi as PM has initiated both development and welfare plans in equal measure. Since 2014 BJP government at the national level initiated social welfare schemes such as Ujjwala Yojana. PM Awas Yojana, pension scheme, direct cash transfers besides the free ration. Names may differ but similar schemes are implemented by other parties too. However the basic difference between the BJP lead governments and the other party led governments is the way the welfare message is taken to the masses through the party cadres. The BJP party cadre was in constant touch with the beneficiaries, assisting them in case of any delivery failure, and acting as the facilitators between the welfare schemes implementing authorities and the beneficiaries. The BJP cadre saw that the welfare scheme beneficiaries are moved beyond caste and religions and formed into a government beneficiary community. The beneficiary aspirations beyond the social welfare benefits are also addressed and attended by the BJP cadre in a systematic way. The way the BJP cadre joined the families of beneficiaries on the festive days like Deevali and shared their joys and in case of any problems faced by the family the local cadre of party are ready to share the burden. Thus the thrust was making the margginalised and poor empowered through the schemes and through the personal touch make them part of the party. There was no distinction of caste and religion at the time of delivery of benefits and largely the woman of the family are targeted to receive and have control on the benefits. Thus a very loyal base among voters through the social welfare schemes was built. This is contrast to the earlier governments headed by both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayavati where the beneficiaries were selected on the basis of caste and religion. Akhilesh doled out benefits largely to his own Yadav community and his supportive Muslims. Jatavs, the community to which Mayavati belongs were the large beneficiaries during the BSP regime. This narrative was changed by adopting neutrality in extending the benefits and nullifying the influence of caste heads and also religious preachers. The promised development is there for the electorate to feel and see.

Yogi Adityanadh under the guidance of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah undertook the cause of huge developmental projects in the state to create the scope for employment generation and boosting the confidence of the educated. The confidence provided on the law order front is unmistakably felt by all sections. The social welfare schemes alone wouldn’t have given such a resounding, record breaking victory, but for the cadre support and active role.    

(Author is retired professor. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author. He can be reached at [email protected])