Col SS Pathania Calls for Responsible Politics: Moving Beyond Election Freebies

30-05-2023: Col SS Pathania, the President of the Sainik Samaj Party in JKUT, has expressed his deep anguish and concern regarding the rampant distribution of freebies during elections under the guise of welfare by various political parties. According to him, this trend has reached dangerous proportions and is steadily escalating. If left unchecked, it will undoubtedly become a recipe for disaster for our nation.

The concept of freebies can be traced back to the Congress regime, which initiated the practice of loan waivers for farmers as a means to woo them and consolidate their vote bank, thereby ensuring their stay in power. However, Tamil Nadu refined this basic concept by offering sarees to women as a symbol of women’s empowerment. From there, the freebies culture gained momentum, with other states joining in. Scooters, laptops, bicycles, gold chains, and internet-enabled TVs were added to the inventory of freebies.

Col SS Pathania highlights the role of Kejriwal in popularizing the concept of freebies, likening it to how the late Jagjit Singh popularized ghazals among the masses. Nowadays, the list of freebies has expanded to include free ration, water, bus services for women, cash allowances for women and unemployed youth, and a plethora of other incentives.

The Congress in Karnataka has taken it a step further by approving five freebies or guarantees, which exploit the public under the guise of welfare. However, with the Karnataka government already burdened by a debt of 6 lakh crores, implementing these five freebies would cost an additional 50,000 crores per annum. The only way to generate extra revenue in such a scenario would be to increase taxation, which would impose a significant burden on honest taxpayers.

Col SS Pathania urgently appeals to the central government to enact a law that prohibits any political party from announcing freebies in the last year of elections. He believes that the honorable Supreme Court should also take suo moto action and impose a ban on the distribution of freebies. He emphasizes that these practices are eroding the fundamental fabric of our democracy and acting as major obstacles to the development of our nation.