Who is worse than a promise-breaking politician? A politician who keeps his or her promises. The latter has become a major problem for the nation’s economy. The trail of hindered development left behind by mindless populism and the freebie frenzy in Delhi underscores this fact. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which will now run the Delhi government, will soon have to confront this reality.

Our political masters are as much responsible for the mess as our intellectual elites. The reason is simple: all politicians, regardless of their party affiliations, operate in a realm where the rules are set and reset by various opinion makers, ranging from academics and writers to editorialists and ideologues. However powerful politicians may be, they must follow these rules. At most, they can conveniently tweak or somewhat twist them, but they cannot disregard them altogether.

Unfortunately, the canon of political debate—along with the grammar and phraseology of public discourse—is sentimentalist to the core. Facts, common sense, and reason play little role in it; unsurprisingly, dogmas and shibboleths shape much of the debate, while questioning and doubt are dismissed contemptuously.

As a result, no one is allowed to question the prudence of any political promise or action. So, questions such as “why should people get freebies" are not even asked, let alone........

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