Will this be enough? Under-fire Vasundhara Raje delivers please-all election budget

Chief minister Vasundhara Raje on Monday presented the fifth budget of her current tenure for the year 2018-19. As expected, the poll year budget had sops and concessions aimed to satisfy all disgruntled sections and soothe all ruffled feathers. At the same time the budget showed visible signs of the bypoll fallout. Concerted effort to address issues being raised by the opposition to flay the government were addressed. Farmers, industry, women, jobs, development, infrastructure; all get a share in the populist budget pie of the poll bound state.     

In Rajasthan farmers’ agitations have served to consolidate the opposition on a joint platform. From the Congress to Left and independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal; all have been successfully mobilizing the rural population in their favour. Raje in this budget goes the Union government way and announces sops galore for farmers in the Budget 18-19. Small and marginal farmers have been offered a one time loan waiver up to 50000 on overdue and outstanding category. Apart from this there are allocations for providing short term crop loans, procuring gram and mustard under MSP, construction of farm ponds, subsidies for solar pump systems, subsidy for setting up gaushalas and even bio gas plant at the gaushalas to name a few. 

Jobs were an issue that the opposition had been raising to effectively bait the government. In the budget over 1.80 lakh employment opportunities have been announced in various sectors including education, revenue, police and medical departments. But it would be a challenge to effect these appointments on the short time line before assembly polls. The recent bypolls saw a drastic sliding away of BJP’s traditional urban voter towards the Congress. The Budget showed effort to woo this core voter base through reduction in DLC rates and slashing of registry cost for affordable housing. There were no new taxes while subsidies were in abundance. No sector was left untouched; sports, tourism, roads, irrigation, mining lease, reduction in GST for some sectors were all included. Skill development, loans for youth, opportunities for self employment, subsidy on loan interest, free travel in state buses for those above 80 and students appearing for interviews for state jobs were all part of Budget announcements.     

Raje has always claimed that women have supported her in elections and this time there has been an effort to woo them too. Giving a major incentive to them the budget announces child care leave up to two years. Women in the age group of 15 to 45 will get sanitary napkins through government initiative.  There is a substantial increase in the honorarium of the Anganwadi workers working under the women and child development; this comes after they had taken to streets in protest.      

There was also going back to roots in Budget 18-19 as schemes were announced in the name of senior leaders Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Sundar Singh Bhandari. There was effort to woo Rajputs and Brahmins who have distanced from BJP through loans, incentives and self employment opportunities.      

For over two hours chief minister Vasundhara Raje presented the Budget. A budget that reflects the pressure that BJP government in Rajasthan faces as it gears up for assembly polls scheduled before the year comes to an end, it displays the hopes that the government and BJP have through this last budget. The Budget could be seen as an effort to pull the wind out of opposition sails. At the same time it also raises question. The announcements are aplenty but is there time to implement them? Can the miles be covered to keep the promises; to emerge from the electoral woods dark and deep. Or is it too much offered; a bit too late.