By Satya Muley

It is said that nothing in this world is for free. However, human psychology is such that people tend to get lured towards free gifts, vouchers, etc. offered by marketing companies who are trapping and eventually converting the potential prospects into clients in a way which is legal, permitted and well disclosed to the target audience in advance. But, what are the consequences if such freebies become part and parcel of electioneering in a vibrant democracy like India?

Freebies in Political Scenario

India has seen political parties rampantly offering freebies to voters at the time of elections. It has never been a secret that even cash is offered to voters. But political parties are increasingly offering electoral promises of doling out freebies to the voters, freebies like free electricity, water, internet, public transport, and even free meals, if they vote their political party to power. Freebie culture has reached such alarming proportions that most of the election agenda of some political parties are, as well thought strategy, based only on offers of freebies, explicitly sending a message to voters that they shall get loads of freebies if the political party wins. This leads to various questions including whether such a strategy of offering freebies for manipulating voters’ minds and coming to power is ethical, legal, and permissible in a democracy?

The Past

Historically in the 1960’s the political parties in South India embarked on the freebies culture by offering free or heavily subsidized rice. Later the strategy was copied across the nation when it became acceptable to offer free education and healthcare, as these topics were even seen to be in tandem with Constitutional welfare objectives. 2015 saw Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) offering a certain amount of free water and electricity free to urban voters. One can understand provision of uninterrupted electricity 24X7, but provision of a certain amount of free electricity is by no way in sync with Constitutional and Welfare objectives and is definitely a quid pro quo proposition.

Indian Democracy

Although India has a history of being the oldest democracy, post-independence from Britishers we are still a young nation. Many Indian Laws are still evolving, Constitutional provisions are still being interpreted and challenged, Political parties are innovating their ways to manage voter perception and win elections. The Indian market too is appearing like a robust capitalist economy in contrast to being a socialist nation as written in our Constitution. The Representation of Peoples Act 1951, defines corrupt practices by Political candidates and consequentially bribing voters to influence voting is prohibited. In such a scenario, political parties have gone strategizing their campaigning methods a bit too far. Offering of free education from one end of the imagination to offering free electricity, water, clothes, travel, televisions set etc. on the other end speaks about the magnitude of the abuse of election rules our Political parties have engaged into to influence voters and grab power.

Freebies and Socialist Experiments Across World:

Once offering free food to free transport, the Socialist Venezuela, an erstwhile rich economy is now in complete shambles. Venezuelans stopped working, as most of their needs were offered for free by the Government, as the nation was oil rich. The Country turned towards importing most of its commodity requirements and the economy finally collapsed around 2000. Cubans survive on the freebies offered by their government and as a result they have gone into deep stagnation. Today the streets of La Havana look like the South Mumbai of 1940. Cubans till today are not exposed to basic technologies like mobile phones, GPS software, or even computers. The reason being Cubans’ daily bread and basic needs are being taken care of by the State and the population in return is forced to remain enslaved and blindfolded towards the benefits of democratic, progressive, and competitive forces. North Korea is also on the extreme end. Bottom line is that the freebie culture thrives under the socialist ecosystem and vice versa, but there is no example of a successful socialist nation. China is a model of impure socialism with strong focus on capitalism and expansionism.

Also Read | Maybe EC itself needs a model code of conduct: Kapil Sibal on poll watchdog’s freebies letter

The Dangers and Alarms

If nothing stops a political candidate from offering irrational freebies, the day is not far when some of them will offer the moon and the stars to influence the voters.

No doubt the issue is already leading to a mockery of our democracy and election process. Sensing the dangers and under the direction of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission invited suggestions from all recognized political parties to frame guidelines on freebies announced in the election manifesto, but without much outcome. In the beginning of 2022, the Supreme Court voiced its concern and sought responses from the Union Government and the Election Commission of India on the subject stating that this is a serious issue. This again did not lead to much result as the respondents consisted of the politicians themselves. The Union Government did express that such freebies were paving way for an “economic disaster.”

During August 2022, the Supreme Court stated that the Parliament may not be able to effectively debate the issue of doing away with irrational freebies offered to voters during elections, mentioning that the “reality” is that not a single political party wants to take away freebies. The Supreme Court advised of setting up a specialized body composed of persons who can “dispassionately” examine the problem. Finally considering various arguments from all sides, the Supreme Court has referred the issue to a three Judge bench for examination.

Conclusion

Political parties cannot be fully prohibited from making political promises. However, such promises, even though they may include some freebies, have to primarily be rational and in sync with Constitutional welfare objectives. Further, Political parties must be made to declare the source of funds for fulfilling the political promises of freebies so that the voters can make informed choice even if a free lunch is put on their table. Potential recipients of freebies, supporters, opposers and voters in general must be informed by the political parties that these freebies are not merit goods, gifts or subsidy schemes such as food grains offered through public distribution system. Political parties must inform if the funds for freebies are going to come from the public exchequer, and if that is the case it merely amounts to taking money from one pocket and putting into another pocket of the voter, or even worse – increasing the State’s expenditure for winning elections. Most importantly, the rampant, unchecked freebie culture shakes the roof of the free and fair elections in a democracy like ours. There is an urgent need to frame rules governing the freebie culture before it explodes further and paves way for more dangerous economic and political turmoil. Otherwise, the free lunch may turn out to be the most expensive one!

(The author is Advocate, Bombay High Court and Founder, Satya Muley & Co. Views are personal.)