Can freebies help Nitish govt tide over anti-incumbency, fight SIR infamy?

The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar, besides facing strong anti-incumbency, is grappling with public disgruntlement over the Election Commission's (EC) controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. To compensate, it is banking heavily on freebies to curry favour with voters ahead of the Assembly elections.

Contrary to his style seen in the past, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish has been posting a slew of populist schemes on his X handle over the past few weeks.

Wide range of sops

The freebies have carefully covered all sections of society, but have mainly focused on women, unemployed youth, and the elderly from the poor sections of society.

The sops range from free electricity, direct cash benefit for women, stipend for students, to promises of more jobs for the youth and pensions for widows and the elderly.

For instance, last month, Nitish announced 125 units of free electricity for 1.67 crore of the total 1.86 crore domestic consumers in the state. The scheme was rolled out on August 1, nearly one-and-a-half months ahead of EC's formal announcement of the date of assembly elections in the state.

Under the scheme, nearly 90 per cent of domestic consumers will get zero bill relief as they will have to pay nothing.

Also read: Waqf law push may be final nail in coffin for Nitish’s falling Muslim votes

Sops for ASHA, Mamta workers

Similarly, Nitish, in the last week of June, increased the social security pension of 1.11 crore individuals, including the elderly, differently-abled individuals and widows from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 per month – a huge jump in the direct cash benefit. All the beneficiaries received the raised pension amount in their bank accounts on July 11.

The government also raised the monthly incentive for 90,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and 7,500 Mamta workers (mostly poverty-stricken women) – working on contract under National Rural Health Mission – from Rs 1,000 to 3,000 and Rs 300 (per child birth) to Rs 600, respectively. Nitish also announced to make domicile mandatory for the 35 per cent reservation for women in state government jobs.

Under the flagship Jeevika project, 1.4 crore Jeevika Didis can avail bank loans up to Rs 3 lakh at an interest rate of 7 per cent instead of the earlier 10 per cent.

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The government has also promised cash of Rs 11,000 for Anganwadi workers to buy smartphones and to double the honorarium of mid-day meal cooks (mostly poor women), guards, and physical education and health instructors at schools.

Stipend for students

Announcing monthly stipends for students, Nitish said students who have passed Class 12 will be given Rs 4,000 per month, students who passed the Industrial Training Institute will be provided Rs 5,000 per month and graduates and post-graduates will be provided Rs 6,000 per month.

The government also announced plans to provide internships to 100,000 youth in various institutions over the next five years and promised to create 1 crore jobs.

The list of populist announcements is exhaustive. It, however, remains to be seen if the pre-poll announcement of sops will help Nitish fight anti-incumbency and soften the blow dealt by SIR.

What beneficiaries say

The Federal, after speaking to a cross-section of voters, including beneficiaries of government schemes, learnt that the larger population is a disgruntled lot wanting a regime change.

“Free electricity, no doubt, is a relief amidst the rising cost of living. It does look like a decision to influence voters ahead of the polls. But people would have supported Nitish if he had done this earlier,” Sunita Kumari, an ASHA worker in Patna district, told The Federal.

Sunita, however, rues that the incentive for ASHA workers is much less than what they expected and that they have been demanding a least pay of Rs 18,000 per month.

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“This is our old demand. It hasn’t been fulfilled yet. How will we be happy with a meagre hike in incentive to Rs 3,000 despite working for hours in the field in rural areas? This meagre hike is nothing in view of the rising inflation. We hope the next government gives us a decent raise”, added Sunita, who is associated with the Community Health Centre at Phulwari Sharif block of Patna district.

‘Doesn’t cover daily tea cost’

Similarly, Sarda Devi, a Mamta worker, said there was no reason to be happy with the Rs 600 hike per child birth. “Is it not difficult to manage a cup of tea and daily auto rent to visit the community health centre with this incentive?” she asked.

Sashi Yadav, president, Bihar Rajya ASHA Karyakarta Sangh, attributes the hike announced by the government a result of their long-standing struggle, but says the victory is half-realised so far.

She alleges that the state government has been exploiting the health workers by making them work 24x7 without giving them a minimum salary. “We will continue our fight for justice. We have decided to stage a big protest this month,” said Sashi, who is also MLC of the opposition CPI(ML).

‘Need jobs, not freebies’

Forty-something Mohammad Ashraf, a craftsman of traditional bangles in Patna’s Ishopur, says the NDA government’s freebies may benefit a few, but not thousands of people like him. Ashraf, who was forced to give up his profession after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, says he has been finding it difficult to eke out a decent livelihood for more than a year now.

“Some beneficiaries may vote for Nitish. But on the ground, several people want him to go,” he told The Federal.

Rajan Rai, a daily wage construction worker, says the spate of freebie announcements is not going to ensure votes for Nitish.

Also read: Is EC’s Bihar SIR a ploy to unseat Nitish, put BJP in the saddle?

“Free electricity will not help us earn a livelihood. There is no work here; there are no industries or factories to accommodate workers like me. We get work, but not daily. It is difficult and a challenge to manage the family’s daily bread and butter, education, and health. Construction of road network, bridges, and hike in pension of old age and incentive for others will not help us. We need work and Nitish has failed to create it in his 20 years of rule,” said Rajan, a resident of Dharai Chak village.

Mohammad Alamgir, 75, a resident of Paharpur locality near Police Colony in Patna, was one of them. He seemed quite elated at the increase of his old age pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1100. “This government has taken care of us (old people), it is a much-awaited hike,” Alamgir told The Federal.

“I support Nitish and will vote for his return as chief minister from 2025 to 2030,” said Alamgir, who used to work as a painter till a decade ago. His sentiments were echoed by Maya Devi, a widow in her late 50s. “I am happy and will support him (Nitish) in the next polls because he supported us,” said Maya, a resident of Rai Chowk in Phulwari Sharif block.

Anti-incumbency

Political activist Satyanarayan Madan, who has known Nitish since his Samata Party days, says posting freebies on social media is certainly not his style, hinting that it is reflective of a desperate attempt to fight anti-incumbency.

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“Till the last polls, Nitish sought votes for development, rule of law, and good governance. He now heavily relies on populist freebies,” Satyanarayan said. “Direct cash benefit does help in steering voters’ sentiments towards the ruling alliance, as has been evident in the Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. After being in power for 20 years, Nitish can read the loud and clear expression of disillusionment against him. Considering this, he has been doling out cash benefits, because cash matters for all,” he added.

A political analyst said that Nitish has strategically planned cash benefits for women to secure their votes. Ruling JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said Nitish during his long tenure initiated several schemes for women empowerment, such as providing free bicycles to school-going girls, ensuring 35 per cent reservation for women in all government jobs in the state, working for increase in girls’ enrolment in schools and announcing 50 per cent reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj system.

‘Freebies can't rescue Nitish’

Pushpender Kumar, former professor of Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) in Patna, says although it is a common practice among ruling parties or alliances to announce freebies ahead of polls, to minimise anti-incumbency, there is no guarantee it will work in Bihar this time.

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Pushpender says Nitish’s freebies will have a limited effect on the poll outcome.

“Only a chunk of direct beneficiaries are likely to support Nitish Kumar because there is widespread dissatisfaction among people. Freebies are showing the ruling NDA's nervousness of facing an aggressive Opposition. It is not easy for NDA to gain additional support and votes through freebies. This is a story of too late and too few after people waited for years and struggled on the streets for their genuine rights," he told The Federal.

SIR, final nail in coffin?

At a time when popular sentiment is against the NDA government, the EC’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls seems to have further jeopardised its prospects of an electoral win.

The Opposition has been fighting tooth and nail against SIR, calling it a ploy by the BJP-led Centre through the EC to disenfranchise millions of voters. What has added to the fears are allegations of myriad irregularities in the exercise, like improper submission of forms, and concerns over the EC’s decision to exclude documents like Aadhaar, voter ID, PA,N and ration cards as identity proofs, the tight timeline, and mass deletions of voters.

Watch: Rahul alleges mass deletions in Bihar electoral roll: What are the repercussions?

Suman Prakash, a fresh postgraduate and a likely beneficiary of the monthly cash incentive (stipend) for students, says youth like him want jobs, not stipends, and says it is not a solution for the stark unemployment situation in the state.

As far as the SIR exercise is concerned, Suman calls it “a useless exercise that has created unnecessary tension for people”.

Palpable fear

Satyanarayan says while a mood for regime change hangs over the state, the SIR exercise has “frustrated” many.

Political analyst Soroor Ahmad says the fear of losing government benefits among people if their names are struck off the voter rolls is palpable among people in the state.

“The message went deep into the lower strata of society that the government may, in one way or another, reduce the number of beneficiaries. The sense of insecurity is higher among the poor than the well off. This impacts the trust in the government as well,” he adds.