Freebies have become the new opium of the masses. Political parties compete to provide them, outbidding each other, as though the voters are cannon fodder for the highest giver in a political auction where the biggest prize—the winning of elections—is reserved not for the beneficiaries but the donor.

The practice, which Prime Minister Modi calls the giving of ‘revdis’, is not new. It has had political currency ever since democratic elections were held in India, because it is the adharma of politicians to woo the masses by making promises that they know they may not be able to fulfil. But the blatancy is new. Earlier, the largesse promised by political parties used to have some semblance of financial prudence. Now, financial viability is no longer a consideration. The idea is to somehow, anyhow, win the election, whether there is—or will—be money to fulfil the promises that rain down like a torrential shower in the monsoons.

Freebies proliferate when the ability of the state to genuinely fulfil the enduring needs of citizens, seriously shrinks or becomes non-existent. In such a situation, freebies are the only way to camouflage the institutional failure of democratically elected governments for good governance. Equally, freebies are based on the assumption that the gullibility of voters is infinitely elastic. Or, that they lack the faculty to make a realistic assessment of the sustainability of promises made by cynical politicians. Or, worse, that they are basically greedy: they have no sense of discrimination, and will blindly vote for........

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