Experts believe that freebies and sops will spiral fiscal nightmare in debt-ridden Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh
The Congress which is poised to form governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh stumped the BJP by promising heavens to the voters via its machinery. It is believed that the sops promised by the grand old party will cost the exchequer Rs 41,000 crore. Experts believe that it will spiral a fiscal nightmare in debt-ridden Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. While the cost of Congress sops in Rajasthan is estimated at Rs 22,000 crore. They account for Rs 16,000 crore in Madhya Pradesh and Rs 3,000 crore in Chhattisgarh.
Rajasthan has outstanding liabilities and debt of Rs 2,00,000 crore over the past 10 years. According to a research by Budget Analysis Rajasthan Centre, the liabilities were estimated to be Rs 2,78,132 crore in 2018. The debt is expected to increase by 14 per cent over next year. Madhya Pradesh's debt stands at a whopping Rs 1,87,637 crore. Outgoing finance minister Jayant Malaiya said every citizen of MP is under a debt of about Rs 23,454.
Chhattisgarh is perhaps the only state with sound financial health. The nominal gross state domestic product (GSDP) in Chhattisgarh was estimated at Rs 3.26 lakh crore in 2018–19. The state has recorded a growth rate of 6.7% in 2017–18.
The sops announced by Congress president Rahul Gandhi include loan waiver to farmers within 10 days in all three states. An amount of Rs 22,000 crore is required to waive crop loans up to Rs 1,00,000 per indebted farmer in Rajasthan. The Congress has also promised to cut power bills by half and hike the paddy MSP to Rs 2,500. "Undoubtedly Congress's manifesto attracted farmers but as the MSP is decided by the Centre and is Rs 1,750 for this year, we want to know whether Congress will pay Rs 2,500 in the on-going paddy procurement," said BJP spokesperson Gauri Shankar Shrivas. The party also promises to constitute the Vidhan Parishad in Madhya Pradesh within a year. Out of the 29 states, only seven, including UP, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir presently have legislative councils.
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