Competitive populism

Promises of freebies are not sustainable

Populist handouts have become a standard feature of closely contested Assembly elections in India. But even so the number of promises being made for the coming round of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, and Goa are worthy of scrutiny. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is participating in almost all of these but is competitive in Goa and Punjab, is most associated with the promise of free power, which helped bring Arvind Kejriwal to power in Delhi. Now, 300 free units of power is part of the party’s platform even in these other states. Nor are