Indian elections: Democracy dancing to the tune of populism since 1982

From NTR's promise of rice at Rs 2 a kg to PM-KISAN and the Congress' NYAY scheme, Business Standard traces the history of populist announcements before elections in India

Call it the failure of the trickle-down process or the populist pressure at the hustings, one of the highlights of elections in India, both parliamentary and Assembly, are big promises — from foodgrain at as little at Rs 1 a kg to laptops, low-cost canteens, and farm debt waivers.

In the coming Lok Sabha elections, minimum income support seems to be the most dazzling of promises — both the Congress, with its Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY), and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) have latched on to it, and there also are