South Asia and Beyond

Congress vs BJP: Poll Promises

Anil Padmanabhan
March 30, 2024 - 12:13 pm
1 minute read

The general election to elect the 18th Lok Sabha kicked off last week. Ahead of it, the Congress, the country’s principal opposition party, announced a set of guarantees, most of which are giveaways, to woo voters.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) patented their own version: Modi ki Guarantee. This leverages its 10-year record in office, particularly with respect to its ability to target and deliver social welfare at an unprecedented scale.

How do they stack up? Is one welfare and the other a freebie?

To answer all this and more, Anil Padmanabhan spoke to Haseeb Drabu, economist, and former Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Capital Calculus. He was also part of the founding team of FMs who rolled out the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Anil Padmanabhan

Anil Padmanabhan has been a journalist for the last 36 years. He has worked in various capacities in several publications including Afternoon Despatch & Courier, Press Trust of India, Business Standard, Mint and was based in New York for India Today. He was a Nieman Fellow in 2001. He tweets at @capitalcalculus.