TNN
New Delhi, Mar 25: Ration and elections lend themselves to good word play - if it is now said that voters march on their stomach, some say the way to voters' hearts is through their belly.
The institutionalised fact of Indian poll story is that cheap foodgrains have proved a sure shot winner, with Congress picking on examples of the pioneering N T Rama Rao and recent Raman Singh to promise a ‘national food law' which would give 25 kg of rice/wheat at Rs 3/kg per month to BPL families.
It is a first for a central aspirant to make such promise though it has been used to good effect in states. By this defining promise, Congress may be as eager to swat away possible charges of moving away from aam aadmi as to further underscore its loyalty to its mascot.
But the party seems as inspired by the recent Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh polls in which promises of cheap foodgrains swept out the Congress challenge against the incumbent BJP.
It may not be anything new, as Chhattisgarh is providing 35 kg of rice at Rs 3 to BPL families and is set to reduce it to Rs 2, while MP is following similar policies. But a central law ensuring 25 kg at Rs 3 to the BPL would still be a pathbreaking step.
It would be a pan-Indian law, which would ensure a certain quantity of grains to BPL while bringing down price of rice by half. At the same time, it would reverse the equation on sharing of subsidy burden, with Centre footing the differential. It would be a throwback to the early 80s when Telugu strongman NTR rode to power in AP by promising rice at Rs 2/kg. While son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu did not like it much, CMs like Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chauhan used it effectively.
In a reversal of roles, Congress CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in Andhra revived the Rs 2/kg rice for BPL last year to try rebuffing NTR's successor.
Now, Congress's promise for Lok Sabha polls not only takes the cheap rice story to a new scale, it is an ultimate tribute to erstwhile adversary NTR.