Politicians have always made tall promises during polls, but seldom honoured their word
In the elections of yore, the electorate was wooed by promises of the delivery of free sewing machines, mixer grinders and, sometimes, bicycles. Since the latter half of the 1980s, as coalition Governments at the Centre by rag-tag parties came into fashion but these kept duelling with other satraps during the Assembly polls, they started enticing the voters with gold bangles, earrings, washing machines and suchlike. Of course, as the technology advanced and the stakes in forming a Government grew higher, the political parties zestfully loosened their purse strings and started promising the households modern gadgets like laptops. Needless to point out, the wads of good old currency notes and the bottles of certain liquefied brown substance have remained perennial favourites, both of the giver and the recipients, and retain their position! However, as they say, change is the only constant in life and one must, therefore, keep pace with the changing times. So, beginning the Assembly elections circa 2020, the political parties changed tack and started proffering the franchise-holders, you guessed it, free vaccine shots against the “Wuhan virus”.
This was just about the time when the Coronavirus pandemic was raging on, crumpling the lives and livelihoods of people abroad and at home, making them change their outlook towards a materialistic and ostentatious lifestyle and turning them into more puritanical and life-valuing humans. Strictly following the adage that a body is the temple of the soul and, therefore, must be kept healthy, the politicos tried to charm the voters with what was the biggest need of the hour — Anti-Corona jabs, for free! Well, it appears that the gambit did really pay off in the Bihar elections. Taking a leaf out of its successful experiment, the BJP has now played the same card in the volatile West Bengal election, which still has to witness two more rounds of polling on April 26 and April 29. Interestingly, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC was this time first off the block in airing this promise. Let the parties promise you the moon, dear voter, but it’s your sacred duty not to compromise your franchise for fear, favour or enticement. After all, the BJP’s “free vaccination” pledge in Bihar was obviously a mere rhetoric, a fizgig, and it still lags in the total number of vaccinations compared to most other big States.
