A sign of policy paralysis in Maharashtra

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Politics in Maharashtra is at a crossroads where the reformist agenda of electoral politics has been taken over by monetary manipulations through the state apparatus. Though monetary considerations for votes are not new in politics, they were not structurally embedded in the state policy. Distribution of cash was a purely political phenomenon. The freebie culture routed through the state has diluted the policy process.

In earlier decades, when caste issues predominantly dominated electoral politics, certain political parties even criticised reservations — a policy of affirmative action — as a freebie. Distribution of freebies was considered as an important strategy of the underdeveloped States in the country. Colour TV sets, laptops, mixers, etc. were distributed in exchange for the allegiance of voters towards a political party. Maharashtra, on the other hand, pioneered schemes such as the Employment Guarantee Scheme in 1972, which offered wages for work; this was subsequently adopted by the Central government as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

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Cash for votes?

However, since then, there has been a change, which is a sign of limited understanding of economic issues and is usually observed in a state of policy paralysis. This change could be attributed to the inability of rational policy design by the political class.

In the backdrop of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti coalition announced the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana. Women who are residents of Maharashtra, aged 21 to 65 years, and have an annual family income of less than ₹2.5 lakh are eligible for this scheme. The Opposition, Maha Vikas Aghadi, could not counter it, so they announced a similar scheme in their manifesto.

If politicians are unable to generate employment, it is essentially a matter of economic policy. Bank transfers before elections are nothing but the distribution of cash for votes. This is not a policy solution to the problems of unemployment and poverty, nor is it compensation.

Traditionally, politicians would build a constituency by continuously engaging with the people. Most issues, including civic issues, were resolved with the intervention of people’s representatives. This is no longer the case. Today, larger constituencies are built using social media and post-truth narratives. In modern-day politics, a constituency is not confined to a geographical space with a proportional population; it is a demographic imagination of an entire subset of a population, such as the youth or women. While earlier studies show that women were the last to be considered as independent potential voters and it was assumed that most women would vote according to the choice of the family (essentially the male head of the family), this is not the case any longer. Women are important voters and are being wooed everywhere. However, these imagined constituencies will be short-lived in the absence of solid rational policies.

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Demographic imagination

Under the changing socio-economic conditions, political parties function as agencies for the ‘consolidation of demographies’ across the population. This is different from ‘demographic imagination’, for ‘demographic imagination’ would mean a process of negotiation with potential groups who could vote for a political party. The process of ‘demographic imagination’ is a highly complex one and could also include changing voters’ preferences and orientations. It is a long-term process to build a clientele base of a political party. On the other hand, ‘consolidation of demographies’ would mean the manifestation of that imagination through interventions such as direct cash transfers or other freebies.

Though the liberal economic thought process may seem to be at work in politics, a day may not be too far when voters will experience progressive deprivation and demand a solid policy aimed at improving their condition. While the youth is known to be more demanding, women too will begin demanding employment rather than accepting a ₹1,500-3000 per month. Gig-politicians then will have to abandon these short-term measures and focus on building their constituencies the good old way.

Mrudul Nile is Professor, Department Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai