Most of the social indicators of Bihar show that it almost systematically lags behind the other states of the Indian Union, even in the Hindi belt. https://thewire.in/economy/the-nda-in-bihar-the-paradoxical-victory-of-maldevelopment
In Maharashtra, last year, the government launched the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana just before the state elections. Women from economically disadvantaged backgrounds started to receive Rs 1,500 per month in their bank accounts. Last month, similarly, the BJP-JD(U) government initiated the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, just before the elections were announced, crediting Rs 10,000 each to over one crore poor women. This large-scale direct benefit, in which Rs 14,000 crore were immediately disbursed reflects the making of a new kind of state clientelism: in the past, poor voters were clients of individual patrons who protected them in exchange of their support at the time of elections.
Today, all these intermediaries have been short circuited: the government relates directly to the poor and gives them something in order to get their vote. In this context, poverty helps and development doesn’t because the more vulnerable voters are, the more they need this financial support. Paradoxically, governments are not punished for policies resulting in greater inequalities because the poor need them more and appreciate the cash direct transfers they get before elections.
19/11/2025