Kejriwal promises free electricity to Punjab if he wins: Freebies as bait to people as the work might fail to persuade the voters

The time of election approaches and the politicians turn into the best of humans providing people with the necessities, or merely making promises of the same. There have been an endless number of instances wherein the politicians try to persuade the people by providing them with freebies that are of utmost need to them. Things have been this way since forever and hardly prove to work in favor of the welfare or development of the common people. Politicians very well understand the time when they need to turn active with the ideas and when to keep the money and other resources in their pockets quietly. They would let the people suffer, if it is of any good to themselves.

Though there have been instances of the political parties doing something for society, the actions prove to be only about one-tenth of what they promised in the rallies during or before elections. This is the peak and the last time they need the support of the general public to come to power and then maybe, make the misuse of the same in order to exploit things for the worse. It is seen that freebies are provided as an attractive point to the public before campaigns and then the prices of the same reach their peak, taking every penny out along with interests. Such happenings are usually not focused upon by the innocents who merely want their necessities to be fulfilled, no matter what they have to put in, and then the later realization of wrong decisions in the heat of the moment forces them to take severe steps. 

The only reason that can be justified for the politicians to get away with their fake and illusional promises is that there is no actual record of any promises that are made, and the ones that are fulfilled. If there is a proper statement and proof of the commitments made by them, they might be held liable for the incomplete tasks that they earlier mentioned. 

The AAP promises remain unfulfilled

According to a report, the Aam Aadmi Party’s earlier manifesto mentioned 70 commitments, out of which merely 32-33% were fulfilled. The resources that he would use for the existing and the latest promise that he makes of supplying free electricity to the people of Punjab, can be used in the betterment of the existing conditions relating to COVID, which is the most important crisis to be looked upon in the present times. People are losing their lives, and politicians have the guts to make promises that are of no use if the entire population dies. The world is facing the hardest times and preparing against the third wave, which has started showing signs, but the leaders’ focus remains on the wain during elections. How can they even think of holding rallies in such times where social distancing is being promoted on such a large scale. The death rate has increased since the pandemic started and resources unavailability is amongst the most common reasons. 

Instead of moving forward with a larger bunch of fake promises to the public, Kejriwal and his supporters must look back at the already unfulfilled commitments. The party earlier promised lower rates of several necessities along with proper management of food distribution. There is nothing visible as a positive result, other than the fact that Ration shop owners still keep aside the ration that is to be delivered to the poorer sections, and later sell them at higher rates for their good. Can the government not decide what to do with this situation? Can they not appoint members for the observation of what is going around? Who should be answerable, because the government does not care!

Freebies to misguide and persuade the poor

The AAP government has been trying to seek support based on freebies, which later prove to be of no use. In the Aam Aadmi Party’s 2015 Manifesto, the promise of 8 lakh employment opportunities was made, which stood unfulfilled along with others like the one of making Delhi pollution-free in the 2020 set of promises. One should also not forget that about 94% of the commitments made by the AAP stood unfulfilled in the year 2015. The thing that came to notice during the 2020 elections, was the title of Arvid Kejrival’s manifesto, which said ‘Kejriwal ka guarantee card’, the thing that remains unanswered is, what is the expiry date of such a guarantee! A month or two?

Speaking of freebies and baits, Kejriwal once also promised clean drinking water and water pipelines in about 14 lakh houses, without any disparities among the poor and rich, in his manifesto. The result of the same is something that does not affect such leaders, which concludes that the tankers are still being used in colonies, and differences in the quality of water for rich and poor still exist. None of the above-mentioned promises are carried out in a rightful manner or have ever proved to be in the welfare of the public.

People compensate for what they are promised to get for free

Moving on, promises that could be fulfilled by him, consisting of Subsidies or the Budgetary Spend Allocation. Though this has been fulfilled by Kejriwal in the most parts, the compensation is taken for the same from the general public itself, in the forms of increased taxes.

Also, there were a few promises laid by the Aam Aadmi Party initially but stayed half fulfilled or stuck in the process. Some of such promises include Jan Lokpal Bill, Swaraj Bill, Full Statehood for Delhi, and many more. Though these are not entirely his fault as the process is incomplete due to the obligations of LG, the point that stands firm is, why do you make promises that cannot be entirely controlled or fulfilled by you? And the answer remains the same, to win elections and gain immense power!

Lastly to mention all the promises that were made with continuous assertion, but did not show any implementation or work are, Delhi’s power station for better electricity, clean drinking water, installation of water pipelines in areas of scarcity, the building of 2 lakh toilets amongst which only a few are built comparing the numbers, proper waste management, 500 government schools to be newly established amongst which, again a very few numbers built, pro-farmer land reform, the idea of making Delhi with free WiFi and several others which cannot be listed in entire descriptions.

Thus, individuals must understand the power of their votes and rights, instead of getting swayed away by mere promises. Even if one fails to look in the coming future, one must make the voting decision based on what the party has exactly done in the past and did it stand firm on its policies and promises at all, or just baited the people for votes.

Edited by Tanish Sachdev