Written by Michael Thervil
Photographer(s) unknown
There is a three-sided political war between the New Delhi Congress, BJP (Indian People's Party), and the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). With the New Delhi elections to be held on February 5th, 2025, the question that seems to spark resentment and even anger in many of the residents of New Delhi is: “does any politician actually care about the middle-class of New Delhi”. Of course, anyone can go around and find residents that support one political party over and over just as much as you will most certainly find various residents that don’t necessarily support or vote at all for any of the political factions in New Delhi. But the one constant that reigns supreme in this situation is that the people who fall into the middle-class of New Delhi are finding it even harder than it ever has before to financially make ends meet.
Currently it’s the AAP that is the leading party in New Delhi. However, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi doesn’t approve of the actions or the lack thereof of the AAP. With the AAP, BJP, and the New Delhi Congress engaged in a three-sided war for the vote of middle-class of New Delhi, it seems as if all three parties have resorted to “schemes”, social kickbacks, and incentives in order to garner votes from the middle-class who are the target of this year's New Delhi Legislative Assembly Election.
When it comes to schemes, social kickbacks, and incentives; these political parties are deploying to obtain favor amongst New Delhi voters. We took the time out to construct a chart in order for you to see what kinds of “deals” each party is offering to their residents. The chart of social kickbacks are as follows:
CONGRESS | BJP | AAP | |
WOMEN | Women to get ₹2,500 | Women get ₹ 2,500 from poor families. | Women get ₹2,100.
₹1 lakh assistance for daughter’s wedding. |
MEDIAL | Free medical treatment to ₹ 25 lakhs | ₹10 lakhs. ₹21,000 to pregnant women.
6 nutrition kits to all pregnant women.
Free treatment up to ₹5 lakhs under Ayushman Bharat.
Free treatment for senior citizens up to ₹10 lakhs. | Free medical treatment for citizens over 60.
Increased healthcare allocation to 10% of budget.
Removal of tax on health insurance.
₹5 lakh accidental insurance.
₹10 lakh life insurance. |
YOUTH | ₹8,500 a month for the unemployed youth.
₹8,500/year apprenticeship. | ₹15,000 for youth taking competitive exams. | Free coaching for children. |
ELECTRICITY | ₹300 free units | ||
GAS | ₹500 for poor Free ration kit. | ₹500 for the poor. One free cylinder on holidays and Deepawali. | |
EDUCATION | ₹1,000 stipends for youth pursuing technical degrees.
Free education (K6-PG). for poor families. | Subsize education and scholarships.
Funding of foreign education. | |
ECONOMICS | Pension increase for senior citizens from ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 lakh.
₹3,000 lakhs to widows. | ₹2,500 uniform allowances twice a year.
₹18,000/month salary to priests and gurudwaras. | |
TRANSPORTATION | ₹10 lakh life insurance for taxi drivers. | Relaunch of “POOCHO” ride sharing app.
Free rides or a 50% cut in metro rides for students.
50% concession on train tickets for senior citizens. |
For many residents living in New Delhi, these kickbacks sound good, but how these proposed social kickbacks will affect them in the long run is the question many residents are asking. Keep in mind that there's nothing free and that nothing happens in a vacuum. Everything is connected one way or another, and this is especially true in the realms of politics and socio-economics.
But even more than that, it was reported that there are several pressing social issues that are plaguing the residents of New Delhi. Those social issues consist of the following:
Placing a 10-year term limit on long politicians.
Auditing and stopping the Chief Minister from exploiting consumer taxes for his own benefit.
Stopping voter interference.
Looking into and prosecuting various political leaders running scams.
Doing away with senior AAP Netas.
Addressing and the enforcement of political promises.
Tackling pollution, bad road conditions and illegal burning.
Addressing the Ghazipur landfill issue.
Cracking down on the migration of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas.
With the AAP as the leading political party in New Delhi, they have been the subject of heavy scrutiny and rightfully so. The public criticism of the AAP stems from them buying up plots of land with public money and neglecting their fiduciary duty by failing to build the hospitals that they promised they were going to build; to hardly fulfilling any of their political promises; to insulting people of Punjab. All of these political blunders have spelled political disaster for the AAP in their chances of winning in the upcoming election.
Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has already expressed disgust with the AAP’s health services operation because of the fact that people have access to liquor but don't have access to water. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also stated that the APP hates Purvanchalis. Just how true Prime Minister Modi’s claims are, is currently up for debate. How the politicians in New Delhi are going to tackle all the social issues no one knows at this point. Moreover, many residents are questioning if any of the political parties in New Delhi are going to be able to keep any of their campaign promises. If they do or not, one thing is for certain – life will go on for the residents of New Delhi as it always has.
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