Three key insights to decode the mandate in Maha, J'khand

There is more than one way to look at the assembly election results for Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

- Roshan Kishore

And there is merit in looking at each of them in some detail. Here are three questions that can help us understand the results.

The incumbent party/alliance is coming back to power with a bigger majority in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand. What explains this? The question is an interesting one because the results in both these states are in stark contrast to what happened in the Lok Sabha elections less than six months ago. What really happened in this short period. The other important question is that of identity-based ideological affinity to parties and its role in shaping the verdict.

Let us look at them one by one.

What is one thing both the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government in Jharkhand and the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra did before the elections? They announced cash transfer schemes for women; Ladki Bahin in Maharashtra and Maiya Samman in Jharkhand. Hemant Soren or Eknath Shinde were not the first chief ministers to do this. Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Shivraj Singh Chauhan in Madhya Pradesh have won landslide victories in their states with tail winds from similar schemes. Even the BJP government in Haryana promised a cash transfer scheme to women. It was important enough to find a mention in the speech Narendra Modi made from the BJP headquarters on the night of the Haryana results.

The key takeaway is simple. Welfare, freebies, doles, whatever one may choose to call it, is becoming an indispensable part of electoral strategy in most parts of India. It does not matter whether it is a poor state or a rich one - Jharkhand and Maharashtra are extreme examples of each of these - the underclass expects tangible, even if seemingly insignificant to the well-off, amount of money in return for votes.