CLUTCHING HIS CHAIR

Ashok Gehlot goes all out with the budget to woo voters, but infighting in the Congress is still a stumbling block

- SONI MISHRA

Full-page advertisements, with a picture of a smiling Ashok Gehlot and the tagline ‘Bachat, Rahat, Badhat’ (savings, relief, growth), appeared in all major newspapers ahead of Rajasthan’s budget presentation on February 10. Never before has the state’s budget been heralded in this manner.

So much so that colleges in the state were told to beam the presentation live to students. The speech was also telecast in all panchayats.

And though the chief minister started with a faux pas—he began reading last year’s speech—it was clear that he was banking heavily on his final budget ahead of the assembly elections later this year.

Expectedly populist in nature, the budget aims to reinforce Gehlot’s image as a pro-welfare leader. He had earlier asked people to send suggestions for the budget directly to him. Its contents, as also the publicity efforts, are to emphasise his imprint on the financial endeavour. It is also an indication of Gehlot’s desperate need to retain power; his political survival depends on it.

A major highlight of the budget is an inflation relief package of ₹19,000 crore. Other proposals include 100 units of free electricity a month for domestic consumers and 200 for farmers, and LPG cylinders at ₹500 to beneficiaries under the Ujjwala scheme, which would benefit around 76 lakh families.

Medical cover under the state’s Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme has been increased to ₹25 lakh from ₹10 lakh. Notably, the government has reverted to the old pension scheme, and free grocery packets would be provided every month to around one crore families under the National Food Security Act.