Polls coming, time to get back to basics

Like every election, it’s raining freebies and projects in Karnataka that will go to Assembly polls in a couple of months from now. The Congress scored an early lead in this regard, promising 200 free units of power, 10 kg of rice for BPL families and Rs 2,000 for women who helm a household. The ruling BJP rushed to play catch-up with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman declaring in her Budget that the Upper Bhadra project in North Karnataka would receive a “massive” infusion of Rs 5,300 crore.

Not to be left behind, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a dole-out of Rs 2,000 for every youth who remained unemployed after graduation and also announced impressive funds for Bengaluru’s infrastructure. But the biggest surprise came from JD(S) strongman HD Kumaraswamy who announced that his party would provide Rs 2 lakh to any woman who married the son of a farmer as these men are finding it increasingly difficult to get brides.

It will surely get the JD(S) into the good books of rural men though it remains to be seen if it will be enough to increase its seat tally substantially. To top it all came the mega launches by PM Modi on Sunday; he launched the Rs 8,480-crore BengaluruMysuru Expressway, the longest railway platform in the world at Hubballi Railway Station and the campus of IIT, Dharwad. This was Modi’s sixth visit to Karnataka in 2023, signifying the importance the saffronists attach to retaining their southern citadel, which is under heavy attack from a resurgent Congress.

Ambitious projects and unlimited freebies will no doubt light up the faces of Kannadigas with a huge smile, but are these the perks they have been waiting for? Power, water, jobs, stable prices for consumers, remunerative prices for farmers for their produce, subsidised and good quality education – these are basic needs and if they are fulfilled, it will surely lift the morale of every citizen.

Unfortunately, not much attention has been paid to them by any government in the last few decades though all parties make it a point to touch upon them in their manifestos. Experienced politicians know that the ordinary voter is not swayed by grandiose promises for he knows most of them are not going to materialise.

After the decline in Covid cases, people are still struggling to get back on their feet. Stable prices, affordable education, cheap and subsidised food, convenient and cheap means of travel and job availability, which does not make one wait and wait for years – these are the basic concerns, and any party that fails to give them the needed attention, would be doing so at its own peril.

There are lessons from the past to prove this. About two decades ago in 2004, SM Krishna, then Congress chief minister, was beaten comprehensively at the hustings despite the enviable reputation he earned for building Bengaluru into a city of international repute and an IT hub. But he was no darling of the rural population with voters finding him too urbancentric. To add to his woes, a severe drought in 2003-04 made sure that fodder and water became scarce and household earnings dropped significantly.

So the Congress, which had won 132 seats in the 1999 Assembly polls catapulting Krishna to power, saw its tally plummet to a mere 65 in the next poll in 2004 with the BJP winning 79 seats and the JD(S), making the best of rural discontent, bagging an impressive 58. It is a lesson that no politician would dare to forget; for anyone who does not have his fingers on the pulse of the people and his ears close to the ground, hearing their basic needs and woeful cries, is destined to reap huge losses in any electoral battle.