Edit by Amit Bhanot, Managing Editor Governance Democracy & Politics Magazine, April Issue
Though PM Narendra Modi was camping in Varanasi for last three days and boosting the morale of party cadre and workers in the last phase of highly crucial UP Elections, BJP top brass and ground force seemed quite optimistic about the party’s show in the assembly election. This confidence of party was not baseless. When Team Khabar India roam around UP to grope the psyche of voters in the biggest state, we found that along with all the pump and show and all the PR exercise, that was going in the state from all the three major parties, there is also a positive undercurrent of the real “developmental work” that central government has done during last 3 years.
Though all the ‘superficial’ focus of all the parties is on the situation of electricity, Kabristan, Gadhe etc., Gas connections given to BPL households under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) could well be the ultimate differentiator between BJP and all the other parties contesting UP elections. No to be surprised, BJP is aspiring big on this central scheme as already 1.80 crore gas connections have been distributed in the country till date and around 55 lakh connections have been given in UP alone. Whatever happened on March 11 in now a history as BJP won 300+ seats in the most important assembly election in the country, even faring better than the expectation of BJP top brass.
Clearly it would be due to the immaculate implementation of PMUY to every nuck-and-corner of the state and Minister of State (IC) of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, should be given full credit for this. When we visited remotest places of UP and even in Uttrakhand, apart from everything, people are lauding about getting free LPG cylinder. Interestingly despite this mammoth on ground activity where 55 lakh connections have been distributed, the whole exercise has gone completely unnoticed by the opposition parties like SP-BSP and now they are shocked with the elections results.
Importantly Ujjwala Yojana has been launched in many states earlier, namely, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat etc. after its countrywide launch on May 1st, 2016 by PM Narendra Modi in the politically sensitive Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. Riding high on PMUY initiative Indian has seen spurt in LPG connections and it has increased by 26% to reach to 17.4 crore in Aug 2016 as against 13 crore connections. Interestingly till February 2017 more than 30% connections approved under PMUY are from UP already and around 55 lakh LPG connections has already been given across UP.
Although the PMUY scheme, under which the poor get subsidized LPG connection, addresses an urgent need, it has turned out to be a political masterstroke for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and clearly proved that “Developmental Politics” can be “Vote Earner” too..
BJP top brass was also confident about it, as they knew that if the PM does something good for the poor people, the BJP is sure to gain from it during the Assembly elections and it happened on the same line. That is why when Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on May 1 in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, many said it was more of a political strategy than a welfare scheme. The UP assembly polls are due in February 2017 and the BJP was hoping to repeat its 2014 Lok Sabha election performance in the state, when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 73 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats.
While unveiling the PMUY last year, Modi acknowledged the political flavour schemes can take: “Most of the people are yet to understand the power of cooking gas. I would like you to recall those days, when an MP was provided 25 coupons of cooking gas every year to distribute to the poor families. The MP used to proudly tell that he was providing LPG connections to 25 families in his constituency.” At the same time, the Prime Minister kept himself in the clear. Modi said: “We are aware of people pointing fingers at why Ballia was selected to launch this scheme. To the misfortune of our country, some people who are not in politics see nothing, but politics at each and every moment. Someone has written that Modi is going to sound poll bugle with today’s move. Oh my dear! We are not here to sound any poll bugle.”
In the Uttarakhand too BJP banked on PMUY to woo the poor by publicising among them the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY). Under the scheme, which was launched by Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan in Uttarakhand, free-of-cost cooking gas connections will be distributed among about 4 lakh BPL families. It is this vast chunk of the electorate comprising the poorest of the poor as well as women the BJP is eyeing ahead of the polls. The scheme that was launched for four districts initially was later on extended to all the 13 districts in the mountain state. These districts also include the 10 hill districts where women in most BPL households are prone to all kinds of respiratory ailments and lung diseases like tuberculosis as they are forced to use fuel wood for cooking. It was noticed during BJP campaign for assembly elections, women far outnumbered men in rallies, which is a clear upshot of the recently launched PMUY scheme and pointing towards an undercurrent.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an ambitious social welfare scheme of Narendra Modi Government. Under the PM Ujjwala Yojana, the government aims to provide LPG connections to BPL households in the country. The scheme is aimed at replacing the unclean cooking fuels mostly used in the rural India with the clean and more efficient LPG.
Ujjwala Yojana is aimed at providing 5 Crore LPG connections in the name of women in BPL households. The scheme provides a financial support of Rs. 1600 for each LPG connection to the eligible BPL households. The government will also provide EMI facility for meeting the cost of stove and refill. According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels. Experts say having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour. Providing LPG connections to BPL households will empower women and protect their health.
Not to mention that kitchen has always played an important role in Indian politics. Leaders across political parties have cooked their electoral fortunes with the kitchen as the integral ingredient. While some distributed highly subsidised foodgrains, others doled out free appliances such as grinders and food processors. Most of them tasted success and this time it was BJP’s turn. One year hence, today we can say how clear Modi-Amit Shaw were on Development Politics and its impact, which completely uprooted the opposition.
