Indian Voters

Indian voters have always been known to be the smart kind. They have invariably cast their votes keeping in mind the events that transpired just before the actual elections. Under such a premise, the election propaganda of a political party becomes all the more significant. That is probably why populist schemes are held in such high esteem by the parties. The ordinary voter in India keenly follows these pro-people policies and infallibly goes for the party that has promised the most incentives.

Populism is not by any means new in India. This precious tool has been generously used over the years by political parties both regionally and at the Centre. Though the term per se has taken thanks to the media, a repelling tone of late, it has not deterred political parties to wield it implicitly in their manifestos. Glaring examples include Rs.2 per kg of rice, free television sets to the poor, bicycles to young girls and the more recent and widely debatable Food Security Bill of the UPA. The Aam Aadmi Party gained recognition owing to its adherence to a cleaner form of politics and utopian ideologies. Nonetheless, it too has not failed to put forward a barrage of anti-elitist schemes including free water and subsidised power tariffs.

Such measures sound melodious to the ear of the common man. But if truth be told, the situation behind the scenes is not all hunky-dory after implementation of these ruinous programmes. Economists believe that the economic quality of the general public under such schemes follows an inverted-J curve, with rapid eventual decline. The government coffers come under immense pressure to sustain such practices, with a constant fear of bankruptcy. With the monetary stability of the government in dire straits, it doesn't exactly paint a happy picture with investors. Moreover, the state is not left with any more capital to pursue pro-growth measures and thereby improve the overall living standards. The burden of the treasury has to be ultimately borne by the tax-payers' money, giving ample scope for inflation to shoot high up. Evidently, the seemingly innocuous populist agendas are bound to spell doom in the long run.

The populist rhetoric followed by political parties chime well with the hoi polloi, but are nothing but myopic schemes targeted to influence vote banks. India grew in stature as an alluring ground for future investments in the early part of the new millennium. But riding on such unfruitful policies, the financial grandeur of India has slowly but surely weaned off at the global market in recent years. If India wishes to see itself as an economic powerhouse by 2030, it has to sacrifice such detrimental schemes in favour of more development-oriented ones. It should focus on improving infrastructure and the standard of living. Shunning the spirit of populism is, undoubtedly, in India's best interest.