In an ideal democracy, the elections are contested by political parties to win voters’ confidence in their respective manifestos, but that is for school books. In reality, the elections are all about winning the perception battle, and here the one who can distract or divide the voters, wins the battle!
The just concluded Parliamentary elections for 18th Lok Sabha too were no different, wherein a tool often used against a sub-sector in India was cleverly used by a political party and effectively aided by its partner.
With an estimated loan portfolio of $124.1 billion in the world and Rs 4,00,000 Lakh Cr in India, microfinance sector’s presence can be felt in every nook & corner of the world as well as country. The sector touches the lives of its borrower, predominantly rural, low-income wagers and women, every day and helps sustain their livelihood efforts by providing them low ticket size loans.
Despite its mammoth reach and daily touch-base, the sub-sector often falls prey to shenanigans and crooked tactics of politicians, from Pradhan-aspirants to Mantriship-wishers! Every now and then, their borrowers are tricked to the lure of ‘Loan Maafi’ (Loan waiver) through unofficial and hush-hush campaigns by supporters of local politicians or money-lenders, resulting in widespread default by borrowers.
Also Read: PM Modi wins from Varanasi even as BJP puts up poor show in Uttar Pradesh
The roots of this game are often local, but spread like wildfire to neighbouring villages or towns, and sometimes even to a state or states, because political aspirants effectively leverage human psychology of ‘everybody wants a loan, but nobody want to payback’! The media, represented by local reporters who are mostly ignorant about RBI’s regulations, joins the party with their local ‘benefactors’ by writing wild allegations against the lending companies (NBFC-MFIs) without following basis journalistic rule of having side of suspect!
The tactic used by SP and Congress in the 18th Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh wears the same stamp. The lure of Rs 8500 per month for women, a solid vote-base of ruling party for last two elections, and distribution of ‘Guarantee Cards’ seem to have work well for the two parties of opposition alliance. As per various reports, the tactic seems to have yielded rich dividend, and a result, the women, at least partially, seem to have deserted BJP, making a dent in its voter’s base. Of course, a number of other hoaxes, like ‘scrapping of reservation by changing the constitution’ etc. too impacted the voters, but such issues mostly affect the male voters.
The ‘Loan waiver tactic’ seems to have effectively put to use by Congress and SP in a copy-cat style. The guarantee cards, with the name of beneficiary written on them, were distributed and date was ‘promised’ for crediting the accounts. And, the ruling party BJP, whose foot soldiers are said to be unhappy with party, could not counter the tactics and narrative, despite BJP being world’s largest party and having over 18 Cr members as per various reports. Much like microfinance loan officers who are in field every day and visit their borrowers on weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis and keep in touch almost on daily basis, but were found to be incompetent in countering the ‘Loan waiver’ narrative, BJP candidates and workers too seem to have woefully failed in confronting the narrative of Rs 8500 monthly credit and convincing the women voters back to BJP!
Read all the World News, Business News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Business News and Opinion here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
