IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

‘Labarthi’ Is The Most Talked Issue During Poll Campaign In Uttar Pradesh

By Sushil Kutty

In this age of Social Media, there are dime-a- dozen political analysts. From age 20 to age 60 and beyond. Many of these pundits base their political predictions on caste arithmetic. There is also the analyst who argues using the communal factor. Stacked against these two is a third kind, the one who banks his predictions on the so-called “labarthi-factor.”

Politics in the last eight years of Modi rule has been built around the “labarthi” phenomenon. The Ujawala scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the direct bank transfers, the Kisan Nidhi and the Ayushman Bharat schemes. Above all, the free rations scheme, which in the Uttar Pradesh context has drawn millions of ‘labarthis’ into the BJP-fold.

Baked into the ethos of India’s hinterland is what’s called the gratitude factor. Noticed especially in the rural folks, whether it is countryside in Bihar or the hinterland of Uttar Pradesh, the women in particular. The common “grameen” and gratitude go hand in hand. The argument is, they have eaten off the BJP plate and will not be called “namakharam.”

That is freedom of conscience at play, and a powerful factor against Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi party. Now, it has come to the stage that the Bharatiya Janata Party is automatically linked to the “labarthi” phenomenon. The woman of the house, especially, owes her better way of life to the ‘labarthi schemes’, and most women have responded positively to the Government which brought about a remarkable change to her kitchen!

And she’s not touched by inflation. The price rise has bypassed her, left her largely unscathed because of the guaranteed free 35 kilos of rice/atta and the cooking oil et al package, delivered to her home month after month. And there is always the fear “what if the next government does away with the various ‘labarthi’ schemes?”

In the minds of the voter there is this apprehension that the next government will discontinue the schemes. Don’t forget there is considerable difference between an election-linked sop like a free laptop to every student and free rations delivered home month after month. Freebies like a pressure cooker or a laptop are one-time sops. They do not stand a chance against free rations for the next five years.

The BJP has been targeting the ‘Mahila voter’ for years. BJP leaders never tire of trotting out government schemes, specifically those designed to make life easy and comfortable for women; the “helpless mahila” bent over a ‘chula’ in her smoke-filled dimly lit kitchen, living a life under the yoke of patriarchy.

The “namakharam” factor runs deep in the rural woman, irrespective of caste or religion. The fact of the matter is women are by far more pragmatic than men. This applies equally to Muslim women as it does to Hindu women. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is criticized for saying that Muslims have the first right on the country’s resources, but how many know the BJP has been actually following the dictum all along since 2014?

The female Muslim rural woman voter has been on record that she values the free rations, and she especially thanks the “double-engine ki Sarkar” of Modi and Yogi for the roof over her family’s head. Years of the Samajwadi Party government did not deliver “free house”, but the Yogi government delivered it with Rs two and a half rupees delivered to the woman’s Jan Dan Yojana account.

Yes, the ‘labarthi’ women are a formidable number and force to reckon with. Even if only three quarters of them vote BJP it wouldn’t be a surprise. Muslim women voters in Rampur who always voted for Azam Khan and his nominees in the cluster of constituencies around Rampur are ‘labarthis’ and they say they will never be ‘namakharam.’

The fact is, ‘labarthi’ and ‘law and order’ are the two planks on which the BJP is banking to make a comeback this election. If the woman voter in Uttar Pradesh is beholden to the Yogi government for the various ‘labarthi’ schemes, men cannot stop talking of the improved law and order in the state under Yogi Rule.

Today, March 3, is the sixth phase of the UP assembly elections and it is also when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s constituency Gorakhpur will vote. So far, most political pundits have been of the belief that price rise and unemployment are factors that will decimate the BJP’s chances of coming back to power. Others talk of the Hindu-Muslim factor. Not many are talking of the ‘gratitude’ factor, or the ‘namakharam’ factor, which have in them the power to upset calculations of the best of political analysts. (IPA Service)

IPA Special

In The Wake Of War In Ukraine, Wheat Is Now A Strategic Commodity

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

The Economist Of London Goes Gaga With Indian Growth Story

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

Turkey’s Erdogan Plays Games Within And With NATO

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

Arrest Of A Big Bangladeshi Financial Scamstar In Bengal Creates A Row

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

Chandrutt Mishra, World’s Foremost Leopard Expert Is A Change Maker

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

Can Hindu Marriage Act Allow Same Sex Marriage In India?

May 18, 2022
Politics

Hardik Patel finally quits Cong, may be headed for BJP

May 18, 2022
Happening Now

Protesting Punjab farmers serve ultimatum to Mann govt

May 18, 2022
Politics

CBI arrests close associate of Chidambaram’s son

May 18, 2022
Happening Now

China jet crash sabotage, suggests Black Box data

May 18, 2022
Business

Export curbs relaxed for outbound wheat consignments

May 18, 2022
IPA Special

Rahul Gandhi Has Damaged The Cause Of Opposition Unity With Udaipur Statement

May 17, 2022
IPA Special

Centre On Backfoot After Unsuccessful Privatisation

May 17, 2022
IPA Special

Central BJP Leaders Are Depending On Yogi Adityanath For Next Lok Sabha Win

May 17, 2022
IPA Special

Regional Parties Are Jittery At Rahul Gandhi’s Dig To Them On Ideology

May 17, 2022
IPA Special

‘Gyanvapi’ Aurangzeb Alamgir Refuses To Rest In Peace

May 17, 2022
IPA Special

Centre Cherry-Picking Names Recommended For High Court Judges

May 17, 2022
Politics

RJD terms Rahul’s comments on regional parties ‘bizarre’

May 17, 2022
Happening Now

CBI searches Chidambaram’s premises linked to son

May 17, 2022
Happening Now

Mehbooba says ‘The Kashmir Files’ behind violence

May 17, 2022

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

In The Wake Of War In Ukraine, Wheat Is Now A Strategic Commodity

May 18, 2022 3:19 pm | IPA Staff

By Arun Kumar Shrivastav In what appeared to be a sudden move, the Indian government prohibited the export of wheat on May 13. This appeared...

IPA Special

The Economist Of London Goes Gaga With Indian Growth Story

May 18, 2022 3:16 pm | IPA Staff

By Anjan Roy The Economist newspaper of London, highly respected worldwide for its expertise and views on the global economy and issues, has predicted India...

IPA Special

Turkey’s Erdogan Plays Games Within And With NATO

May 18, 2022 3:13 pm | IPA Staff

James M Dorsey Amid speculation about a reduced US military commitment to security in the Middle East, Turkey has spotlighted the region’s ability to act...

IPA Special

Arrest Of A Big Bangladeshi Financial Scamstar In Bengal Creates A Row

May 18, 2022 3:11 pm | IPA Staff

By Ashis Biswas Nothing has engaged the capabilities of police forces in India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh in recent times more the arrest of international...

IPA Special

In The Wake Of War In Ukraine, Wheat Is Now A Strategic Commodity

in IPA Special
May 18, 2022   ·  

The Economist Of London Goes Gaga With Indian Growth Story

in IPA Special
May 18, 2022   ·  

Turkey’s Erdogan Plays Games Within And With NATO

in IPA Special
May 18, 2022   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: Indian Student’s Killing In Ukraine Is A Wake-Up Call To Review Medical Admission Policy
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
Posting....
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets