RUN-UP TO 2019 POLLS: A sop story as parties spread offers

The announcement of farm loan waivers by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has triggered a race between the BJP and Congress to court agro growers with sops and subsidies in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that agrarian distress and unemployment will be the main focus of his party ahead of the general elections. On their part, many BJP state units, particularly in Odisha and Assam, responded with populist promises.

Hours after it took charge of MP, the Congress announced to write off farmers' debts up to Rs 2 lakh, promised farmer pension and a minimum support price for crops as per the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations. Earlier, it had doled out loan waivers in Karnataka and Punjab. Currently, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh – both ruled by BJP – too have crop loan waiver schemes.

Policy experts expect the Centre and the states to come up with a host of "people-centric (read populist) drives" to woo voters. As an indication to that effect, the Gujarat government on Tuesday announced waiving electricity dues to the tune of Rs 650 crore.

The country's over 26 crore farmers and their lakhs of dependants form an influential voting bloc that no party can afford to ignore. Agriculture employs nearly half the population and contributes about 15 percent to India's $2.6 trillion economy.

On Monday, the BJP promised to waive farm loans in Odisha if it wrested power from the BJD. And the BJP government in Assam said that it would waive 25 per cent of all farm loans, up to a maximum of Rs 25,000. The scheme will benefit 8 lakh farmers.

In Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched laid foundation stones for two Metro lines and affordable housing projects worth over Rs 33,000 crore. The BJP plans to showcase the success of its already launched Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, a massive water conservation scheme that aims to make the state drought-free by 2019.

Last week, PM Modi had chaired a high-level meeting of top bureaucrats to review the progress with regard to ease of doing business. Obverses say the BJP is concerned after a section of business community turned against the party in Chhattisgarh polls.

Analysts expect that the the Centre and various BJP-governed states to provide tangible results of fueling the rural economy and the SMEs (small and medium enterprises). The Centre is already working towards doubling farm income by 2022.

Sources in BJP said the party will move with a multi-pronged approach for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. While it will continue to bank on Modi's mass appeal, the Centre and BJP-ruled states will adopt a more populist stance through tax cuts, aimed at the working class, and increased subsidies for farmers.

"In the last four and half years the Modi government has transformed economic policy of the nation. But some more people centric announcement could make an immediate connect with the voters," said a BJP leader. "Ultimately, we need to win elections."