BJP eyes larger UP vote base with rural focus

The Budget has apparently spread the political chessboard for the “make and break” Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The political might in the state, which propelled the BJP with a majority of its own in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, arguably lies with farmers and rural areas.

The UP polls is slated for February 2017, and the ruling Samajwadi Party is already up against rising discontent among the people. The BJP is hoping to become the principal challenger to the SP even while the Mayawati-led BSP has begun flexing political muscles in the state. With finance minister Arun Jaitely unveiling singular focus on rural areas and agriculture, the BJP would hope to connect with the larger vote base in UP. Incidentally, the SP had staged a spectacular win the state polls in 2012 on the back of twin promises to waive off farmers’ loans and unemployment allowances to the youth.

Mr Jaitely has proposed an outlay, which roughly translates to Rs 80 lakh each for the gram panchayats, and Rs 21 crore for the urban bodies a year. Bundelkhand and eastern parts of UP had been reeling under longer drought spells in the recent years. The finance minister unveiled Deen Dayal Mission for adopting drought-affected blocks under intensive mission programme.

The Budget 2016 may cheer the weather beaten farmers with Mr Jaitely allocating Rs 15,000 crore on interest subvention on farm credit. Also, the allocation of Rs 5,500 crore for new Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) may help the scheme to take off on the ground at the earliest.

By doubling allocation to agriculture to Rs 44,485 crores, Mr Jaitely has seemingly given credence to the slogan of the BJP to double the farm income by 2022. The Budget 2016 also talked about agriculture credit at Rs 9 lakh crore.

Incidentally, the Rail Budget had also made substantial allocation for UP by including a large number of small projects to connect areas in the eastern parts of the state, which is considered the main base of the ruling SP. The BJP looks armed with an economic template to raise the battle cry against the ruling SP for the 2017 state polls, which by all accounts could give the political direction for Mr Modi’s bid for re-election in 2019.