Politics is as much about winning elections as it is about running Government

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s humiliating defeat in Karnataka boosted the morale of the Opposition, especially of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra. It has decided to join hands with small parties and fight jointly against the saffron party in the 2024 general election. Top leaders of all three MVA constituents, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Congress, and Shiv Sena (Uddav Balasaheb Thackeray) met at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence in Mumbai on Sunday. Something like the Karnataka victory Opposition leaders were eagerly waiting and hoping for; it is not just about the BJP’s loss in one big state; it is also about learning lessons from the poll result. Many of them feel that, with proper planning and strategy, similar outcomes from the forthcoming State and general elections could be realistically expected. But politics is not just about winning elections; it is also about running government. The Congress will soon realize where the shoe pinches. In its desperation to win the Karnataka election, the grand old party tried to compete with, if not outdo, the Aam Aadmi Party. It has promised a scheme aims to provide Rs 2,000 a month to every woman heading a household, Rs 3,000 to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders every month for two years, 10 kg of rice per person per month to below poverty line or BPL families, 200 units of free electricity for every single household, and free bus tickets for women to travel around in the State.

These promises are estimated to cost Rs 62,000 crore a year to Karnataka. This amount is more than the deficit of Rs 60,581 crore for 2022-23. That was a deficit of 2.6 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP). If the Congress Government in the State decides to redeem its pledges, the fiscal deficit is likely to cross 5 per cent, which would be above the 4 per cent cap the Finance Commission has imposed. This would reverse a good trend. In the last fiscal, the BJP government had managed to bring down the fiscal deficit by Rs 8,703, as compared with 2021-22, leading to a revision of the fiscal deficit to 2.8 per cent of GSDP for FY23 against Budget estimates of 2.82 per cent. This is likely to adversely affect the investment scenario in the State, with all the attendant ills, some of which may become evident within 12 months—that is, till the next general election. At any rate, infusion of more populism in the political economy is not a sustainable solution to counter the BJP. The problem with the Opposition is that it is focused only on defeating the BJP; they have hardly any viable alternative to offer to the electorate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, offers growth and progress, and it is evident in infrastructure development. The Opposition must think beyond populism.