Delhi polls | It's raining freebies with AAP and BJP trying to outdo each other

Taking a cue from its recent electoral success in Haryana and Maharashtra, where the NDA managed to turn the tide in its favour by announcing populist schemes targeted at women and the elderly, the BJP is replicating this strategy in Delhi, where it has announced several measures to reach out to the financially weaker sections.

With a little over a fortnight left for the polling in Delhi which is scheduled to take place on February 5, the ruling AAP and its main challenger, the BJP, are involved in an attempt to win over the women and the poor to capture power in Delhi.

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AAP takes lead

While the AAP government took the lead by announcing several measures for women, including Rs 2,100 per month under the Mahila Samman Yojana, the BJP has tried to better the AAP by announcing a similar scheme, promising Rs 2,500 per month to beneficiaries.

The strategy to extend financial aid to women was first used by the BJP in the Madhya Pradesh polls in December 2023 which helped the party retain power in the state. Since then the BJP has announced this scheme in every Assembly election and has successfully managed to retain power in Haryana and Maharashtra.

“This is just a part of the promises that the BJP is making for the Delhi polls. There will be at least 2-3 more promises that the BJP will reveal in its manifesto, and these promises will cover all the segments of the population. So far, we have focused on women, the elderly, and the health benefits for people,” BJP spokesperson Dr Anil Gupta told The Federal.

Raking up corruption

Coming under attack from the AAP leadership, which has alleged that if the BJP comes to power in Delhi it will stop all the populist schemes of the AAP, the BJP has promised that it will not only continue with all the existing schemes but will also initiate investigations into the charges of corruption against the ruling party leaders.

The BJP has tried to build a narrative against AAP that its senior leaders are involved in corruption. The BJP is trying to emphasise its narrative by talking about the arrest of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

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“The AAP is involved in false campaign against the BJP by continuously saying that BJP will stop all the welfare schemes of the Delhi government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the people that all the existing schemes will continue. We will also initiate an investigation to unearth corruption by AAP leaders in different schemes of the Delhi government. If the BJP is voted to power, we will improve on all the schemes of the AAP and also bring in transparency,” said Gupta.

Wooing poor

Political analysts believe that the BJP and the AAP are both trying to reach out to the same section of people, mainly the poor, elderly and women by making poll promises.

“At least one-third of the population of Delhi can be said to be in the low-income group and it plays a decisive role in the outcome of the elections. So both BJP and AAP are trying to reach out to them by making a slew of promises in their respective manifestoes,” Dr Sanjay Kumar, co-director Lokniti, CSDS, told The Federal.

Bid to regain power

To end its 26-year-long wait to return to power in Delhi, the BJP leadership is leaving no stone unturned. Interestingly, while the BJP has enjoyed the support of people of Delhi during the Lok Sabha elections by winning all seven parliamentary seats since 2014 general elections, it has failed to maintain its winning streak in the Assembly polls.

The Delhi Assembly polls have proven to be a litmus test for the BJP. Interestingly, Delhi is the only state where the BJP has a strong organisational presence but has not managed to secure an electoral triumph for more than two decades.

With the hope of ending its poor show in Delhi, the BJP is not just promising some new populist schemes but has also promised to enforce all the national schemes that the AAP government has not implemented in the past.

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Central schemes

Apart from Ayushman Bharat scheme promised in its manifesto, the BJP hopes to implement the urban housing scheme for the poor started by the Union government. The BJP also looks forward to implementing initiatives like Jan Dhan and PM Kisan schemes, which will help the party consolidate its position in the national capital.

“There is a fight over populist schemes in Delhi and the BJP is trying to beat the AAP at its own game by promising many initiatives. The politics of populism was started by AAP in Delhi and the BJP is only replicating this strategy with the hope that it will work in the polls,” Abhay Kumar Dubey, author and professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told The Federal.