Vaccine politicking

Free inoculation for Bihar is cynical populism

The concept of free Covid-19 vaccines for all, in principle, is a powerful commitment for any government to make. Even Democrat Joe Biden has promised free vaccines if elected president, but his promise is for “all Americans to get ahead of the virus”. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen a cynical approach to the issue by making it an election pledge only for Bihar, which goes to the polls starting October 28. In her stout defence of the upsurge of criticism of this manifesto promise, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has described it as “perfectly in order”. Health is