Banerjee’s key promises include a Rs 4,000 monthly allowance for those working in the sector, increase in the existing fuel subsidy by 2.5 times, etc. The Trinamool Congress, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which is keen to make a splash in the 2022 Goa polls also made a slew of freebies, especially to those involved in the fisheries sector. The free pilgrimage tour announcements also rekindled a war of words between the two Chief Ministers, who have accused each other of copying innovative schemes launched or announced by their respective governments.
The scheme, which was buried in the details of the voluminous budget announcements, offers free pilgrimages in temples across the state to senior citizens. Pre-election ‘sponsorship’ for pilgrimages is not a new phenomenon in Goa, with aspiring candidates routinely arranging for such tours to popular religious destinations like Shirdi and Nanij in Maharashtra.įollowing Kejriwal’s announcement, Sawant too tried to play up a budgetary scheme announced by him this year.
The political avalanche of freebies has snowballed since, following Kejriwal’s two other promises, which includes the free pilgrimage package. Ruling AAP, BJP Engage in Blame Game Over Frothing in Yamuna Kejriwal’s first guarantee of providing 300 units of power free on July 14, triggered ridicule from the ruling BJP, more than a month later Chief Minister Pramod Sawant promised 16,000 litres of water free of cost to the state’s domestic consumers. While Kejriwal promised free power to the tune of 300 consumed units for domestic connections, and a job in every home in the coastal state and unemployment doles for the youth in Goa, the Delhi Chief Minister, earlier this week also promised free pilgrimages to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Vellankani for Hindus, Muslims and Christians, respectively.
The freebie trend this time round was started by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, who has announced three out of the party’s promised five pre-poll guarantees, which includes free power, employment and pilgrimages. The early phase of the election campaign in Goa has been marked by a virtual free-for-all announced by political parties, including the AAP, BJP and the Trinamool Congress for the state’s voters. There’s little to distinguish between politics in poll-bound Goa and the frenzy in a beach bar during ‘happy hours’.
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