Karam Prakash
New Delhi, December 9
The results of the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh indicate that the Aam Aadmi Party’s strategy to offer freebies to garner votes didn’t work out for the party.
They want jobs
The electorate in both Gujarat and HP gave a clear message — we don’t want freebies. Voters want jobs. They want a permanent source of income. — Prof Ronki Ram, PU, Chandigarh
Political science experts say the electorate in both states gave a clear message that they did not want freebies.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had promised 300 units of free electricity for every household, an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000, a monthly allowance for all women above 18 and free healthcare.
This, however, failed to sway voters in AAP’s favour in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
It won only five seats out of 182 in Gujarat, while it failed to open its account in Himachal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “free revdi” jibe had triggered a debate over propriety of offering freebies to woo voters.
The entire campaign of the AAP was purportedly directed towards announcing the freebies. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, along with party convener Kejriwal, showed zero tariff electricity bills of Punjab consumers in almost every road show.
Professor Ronki Ram, who teaches political science at Panjab University, Chandigarh, said: “The electorate in both Gujarat and Himachal gave a clear message — we don’t want freebies. Voters want jobs to get stability in life. They want a permanent source of income.”
Another political science professor, Ashutosh Kumar, said: “Freebies announced by AAP had little or no impact on voters in Gujarat, which is already a prosperous state.
