The Mahagathbandhan Manifesto: A Promise of Employment and Hope
- Justice Katju: Why Employment Promise May Seal NDA’s Fate
- The Economic Reality Behind the Grand Promises
- ‘Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne’: Justice Katju’s Critique
Historical Parallels: From Hitler’s Promises to Modern Politics
Justice Markandey Katju analyses the Mahagathbandhan Manifesto, its promises of jobs, and why it could decide the 2025 Bihar elections despite economic impracticalities.
The Mahagathbandhan Manifesto
By Justice Markandey Katju
The Manifesto of the Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of several parties in Bihar led by the Rashtriya Janta Dal ( RJD ), whose prospective Chief Minister has been announced as Tejaswi Yadav ( the ruling NDA has yet to announce its prospective CM or issue its Manifesto ), assures victory of the RJD in the coming Bihar state assembly election in November, as surely as Modi's slogan 'Vikas' ( development ) assured victory of the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India.
This is because the Manifesto's main emphasis is promising employment to Biharis, particularly the youth, in a state plagued by widespread unemployment for decades, which compelled Biharis to migrate to other states seeking employment.
Of course, the RJD already had the upper hand by forging an alliance of several castes and communities, as I pointed out in the article below
But the promise of employment in the Mahagathbandhan Manifesto is the last nail in the coffin of the ruling NDA in Bihar.
I remember that in 2014 many youth in Delhi and elsewhere, of many castes and communities, had met me and said they would all vote for the BJP as Modi's slogan of vikas resonated with them, as their main aim was getting jobs, and vikas promised employment. The voting age in India had been reduced to 18 years, and these youth had the single aim of getting jobs.
Similarly, the Mahagathbandhan Manifesto will make many Bihari youth to vote for the Mahagathbandhan candidates, often cutting across caste and communal lines.
It is a different matter that the promise of employment to Biharis can hardly be fulfilled, as I have pointed out in my article below
Bihar is a poor state. Where will all the money come from for implementing the Manifesto's grandiose schemes with its 25 promises ?
For instance, the Manifesto promises a government job to one member of every family in Bihar. But there about 2.75 crore families in Bihar, and it is estimated that implementing this promise alone will entail an expenditure of Rs 6 lac crores ( some estimate it as 9 lac crores ) annually.
But Bihar's budget for the year 2025-2026 showed expenditure of only Rs 3.17 lac crore. So fulfilling this demand alone will mean that all the state government's expenditure will be on meeting this demand alone, and still it will not be met ( what to say of the other 24 promises in the Manifesto like giving Rs 30,000 per year to every woman in Bihar, pensions, insurance, etc. )
It is obvious that the Manifesto is a 'Mungeri Lal ke haseen sapne' ( pie in the sky ). But that hardly matters. Most people are emotional, not rational, and like children can easily be led away by a politician or demagogue who promises a trip to La-la land or an El Dorado.
Manifestos are just a piece of paper. They mean nothing, and election promises by politicians are not seriously meant to be kept. They are just vote-catching devices. Yet most people believe in its promises and behave like rats or children following the Pied Piper of Hamelin to his tune.
https://thephilox.com/do-indians-deserve-the-right-to-vote-by-justice-katju/
Hitler promised the moon to the German people in the 1933 election--jobs to the unemployed, profits to businessmen, a great Wehrmacht to the generals, and even a husband to single women ( it seems the Mahagathbandhan leaders forgot to add this last demand in their Manifesto ! ). Consequently, the Germans voted him to power.
The same thing will happen in the coming Bihar elections.
Good luck to the Biharis !
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
