: Free rations were BJPs biggest vote getter in UP Assembly polls #IndiaNEWS #India Lucknow: They may be each others bitter opponents in politics but the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh

Free rations were BJPs biggest vote getter in UP Assembly polls #IndiaNEWS #India
Lucknow: They may be each others bitter opponents in politics but the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh are in complete agreement when it comes to doling out freebies to voters for electoral gains.
For the Yogi Adityanath government, the distribution of free ration to poor families has been the biggest factor that ensured the victory of the BJP in the 2022 assembly elections.
Five kilograms of ration, packed in plastic bags with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath printed on them, proved to be a major vote earner for the party.
Besides, free gas connections under the Ujjwala scheme, free toilets, free houses and promises of free bus rides for women above 60 years and two-wheelers for meritorious college girls under the Rani Laxmi Bai Yojana, proved to be a game changer for the BJP that returned to power with a whopping majority.
The freebies announced by the BJP benefitted the voters groups more than they contributed to the development of the state.
The politics of freebies in Uttar Pradesh was initiated by the Samajwadi Party government in 2012 and, that too, had little to do with development.
The Samajwadi Partys Akhilesh Yadav, when he became chief minister in 2012, decided in his first cabinet meeting that the government would provide unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 per month to unemployed youth registered with the employment exchange and above 35 years of age.
The move was clearly designed to win over young voters.
Akhilesh then announced free laptops for students who pass class 12 and tablets for those who pass class 10. The laptops were a big hit with students though the tablets never came in ample measure.
The cost of the laptop scheme was estimated to be around Rs 3,000 crore per year.
The Akhilesh government also announced financial assistance of Rs 30,000 for Muslim girls passing class 10. This would enable them to go for further education or marriage.
The scheme would cost Rs 300 crores and the beneficiaries were about one lakh.
The schemes in the SP regime were also not aimed at the development of the state though Akhilesh Yadav brought in the Lucknow-Agra Expressway and the metro service in Lucknow.
SP spokesman Anurag Bhadauria said, Maximum development took place during the Akhilesh Yadav regime. Apart from laptops and scholarships that helped the young generation build a future for themselves, the Akhilesh government also built roads, expressways, metro services, stadiums and parks. It was during the SP regime that premier medical institutions came to UP. If this is not development, then what is it?
The freebie culture in UP gained ground in the 2022 assembly elections when the SP promised 33 per cent government jobs for women and 300 units of free electricity for domestic use.