PUNJAB Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal celebrated her first month in office by announcing a raft of sops for farmers, traders and women. With assembly elections just a couple of months away, it was a clear attempt to wrest the initiative from the Akali Dal-BJP combine.
Tacitly admitting that the 'peace card' is no longer valid in Punjab, Bhattal has appropriated vital aspects of the Akali manifesto, like the abolition of octroi and free electricity for small farmers. As a chief ministerial aide exulted: "If we implement our action plan, the Akalis will be left without an agenda."
And so, Akali Dal chief Prakash Singh Badal has not been able to criticise the specifics of Bhattal's action plan (since it mirrors his own) and has merely declared that she will not be able to implement it. Bhattal is determined to prove him wrong by getting her schemes off the ground by the first week of the new year, but is coy about their financial implications. Not surprising, as secretariat sources say the pre-poll package will cost the state exchequer Rs 575 crore and the spectre of fresh taxes looms large.
At the time of writing, the Punjab cabinet was considering a proposal to hike the liquor tax from 12 per cent to 26 per cent to net an additional Rs 120 crore and partially offset the annual octroi loss of Rs 267 crore. Dismissing Bhattal's threat to impose prohibition in Punjab as a "red herring", an official pointed out that the state could ill-afford to lose excise revenue. An increase in municipal taxes is also on the cards, sources said.
As for free power to 85 per cent of Punjab's farmers (with holdings of up to seven acres) the government rather optimistically hopes to offset the loss of Rs 250 crore by cutting down on transmission losses of 35 per cent. In fact, the finance wing is indulging in considerable wishful thinking, hoping that wheat and paddy procurement will improve dramatically in the coming year. It is also expecting the Centre to write off its loan repayment liability of Rs 860 crore.
Akali Dal General Secretary Capt. Kanwa-ljit Singh accuses Bhattal of withdrawing money from "long-term projects", like the Thein Dam, to fund her action plan. "It is a scorched earth policy, an attempt to empty the state coffers before our government takes over," added another Akali leader.
In fact, bureaucrats agree that some projects will be starved in order to fund new ones. In some respects, Bhattal's package is a classic exercise in giving with one hand and taking away with the other. For instance, while the 'double taxation' on hosiery and readymade garments is being waived, duty on yarn is likely to go up from 2 per cent to 3 per cent. But other measures—like abolition of surcharge on sales tax and land revenue—have been welcomed, as expenditure on collection was higher than revenue.
Bhattal has specifically targeted women, promising 30 per cent reservation for them in government jobs, free bus travel for those over 60, more funding for women-related projects, all-women police stations and a hike in the monthly pension for terrorist-affected widows. Apart from the action plan, Bhattal plans over 70,000 recruitments—33,000 vacancies for teachers and another 48,000 for Scheduled Castes and Tribes are to be filled. But the Akalis have charged her with "short-circuiting the recruitment process". She has also been following a "transfer-on-demand" policy, posting officers of choice in the areas of prospective assembly candidates. Following complaints from the Akali Dal, Chief Election Commissioner M.S. Gill has cautioned Bhattal to avoid such transfers.
Punjab BJP President B.D. Tandon admits that Bhattal is more "outspoken and active" than her predecessor, Harcharan Singh Brar, but feels her last-minute action plan will not fool the voter. "If the Congress was so keen on people's welfare, why did it wait for its last two months in office to do so? Just a fortnight ago, the Congress was decrying the Akali manifesto—now they have stolen it. So it is clear they are not serious." While an indignant Akali Dal claims that Bhattal's blatant theft of Badal's game-plan shows a 'bankruptcy of thought', political observers note that it is politically sound. Adopting a pro-active approach, Bhattal has chosen not to confine her election campaign to Akali-bashing and playing the exhausted peace card. Only the election can establish how far she will succeed with her populist programme.
