Promises may spoil the party

If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto is to be believed, the party-in-waiting for power in Chhattisgarh has made commitments, which are sure to ruin the state's economy.

As the unemployment continues to grow and there is no state authority to enforce minimum wages for agriculture labourers, the BJP's promise of providing Rs 500 per month to all unemployed youth who have passed intermediate examination is extravagant. A back-of-the-envelop calculation puts the number of youth eligible for this dole at one million.

But this is not the end of the story. The manifesto contains promises which, if honoured, will mean financial profligacy at its ruinous best.

For instance, if it is to stick to the manifesto, the new BJP government headed by Raman Singh is committed to waive all loans of small and marginal farmers. The obvious implication is that the government will repay the loan from its own kitty.

Taking a leaf out of NT Ramarao and later Chandrababu Naidu's book of providing cheap rice, the BJP manifesto also promises to create 1,500 dal-bhaath (rice centres), where people will get cooked rice and lentil at Rs 5 per head.

This promise certainly has caught the fancy of a substantial section of the poverty-stricken tribals and other backward castes (OBCs) who could hardly manage two square meals in the region known as the country's "rice bowl".

That the poll promises have gone to the level of absurdity is evident from the BJP's commitment of giving a cow to each tribal family. Though the state is power surplus, the new government is committed to giving free electricity for irrigation to farmers, a promise which had proved counter-productive for the Akalis in Punjab.

BJP sources admitted that there was a great degree of scepticim among senior leaders at the time of drafting the manifesto. "Let us win the election, we will think about the promises," responded the pragmatic politicians who drafted the manifesto.

Chhattisgarh

---

Most likely to do...

Cooperate with the CBI for probes into Jogi's affairs

Promulgate a law on conversion

Start court proceedings against Amit Jogi

Least likely to do...

Give the state bureaucracy a free hand

Implement the manifesto to the last letter

Make any policy changes that will have a destabilising effect on the economy

First task: How to embroil Ajit Jogi in more trouble