When the Congress government in Karnataka introduced its five "guarantee" welfare schemes in 2023, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swiftly dismissed them as fiscally reckless promises that threatened to destabilise the state’s finances. Prime Minister Narendra Modi coined the phrase “revdi culture” to describe what he characterised as short-term inducements to voters pursued at the cost of economic growth. His scepticism towards expansive welfare measures is longstanding – he was even critical of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Senior leaders of the ruling party warned that Karnataka-type schemes would create fiscal crises, burden taxpayers and set dangerous precedents.

Direct cash transfer schemes are hardly a new phenomenon in India’s electoral democracy. In 2024, the country saw a surge in such programmes, with many targeting women as beneficiaries. Though the amounts disbursed were modest, averaging around Rs 1,500 per month, the breadth of coverage was considerable. In the run-up to the Bihar assembly elections, however, the scale has expanded significantly.

Grappling with accumulated anti-incumbency and facing allegations of voter list manipulation, the BJP is embracing exactly what it once decried elsewhere, this time on an unprecedented scale. This is the same BJP that dismissed Karnataka’s five guarantees as fiscal suicide. The state government allocated around Rs 50,000 crore – annually roughly 25% of Karnataka’s GSDP – for its welfare schemes, which was condemned by BJP leaders as economically unsustainable. Yet in Bihar, a state with far weaker public finances and a debt-to-GSDP ratio approaching 40%, the party shows no hesitation in announcing transfer packages worth thousands of crores just weeks before polling. The shift underscores the instrumental nature of such rhetoric: what is condemned as “irresponsible” when pursued by rivals is reframed as “visionary” when it advances the ruling party’s electoral interests.

From “revdi culture” to “women’s empowerment”

On September 26, Modi, speaking from Delhi, initiated direct transfers of Rs 10,000 each into the bank accounts of 75 lakh women in Bihar, just weeks before the October-November assembly polls. Barely a week later, on October 3 in Patna, chief minister Nitish Kumar accompanied by deputy chief ministers announced another tranche: Rs 2,500 crore deposited into the accounts of 25 lakh women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, with each recipient receiving Rs 10,000.

Within a span of ten days, the Union and the state together funnelled nearly Rs 10,000 crore into women’s accounts, a scale of cash transfer rarely witnessed in the run-up to an assembly election. The political intent is unambiguous. In a state where women voters have repeatedly proven decisive, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is banking on the reach of direct benefit transfers to secure electoral loyalty under the banner of “women’s empowerment”.

Also read: How Nitish Kumar is Spreading Poverty in the Name of Eradicating it

Few will dispute that women deserve state support. Indeed, there is a strong case for direct cash support to women from disadvantaged households – such transfers can be seen as partial compensation for the unpaid labour women perform within families. But the current wave of cash transfer schemes is less about welfare and more about political arithmetic. Women have emerged as a decisive voting bloc, and parties are tailoring schemes accordingly. The ‘Ladki Bahin’ and ‘Ladli Behna’ initiatives in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu’s ‘Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai’, and free LPG connections under the Ujjwala scheme in Uttar Pradesh have all been credited with helping ruling parties retain power by consolidating the support of women voters.

However, these schemes cannot replace a broader welfare framework in which the state generates employment, strengthens public services and fosters demand-driven growth. Genuine empowerment comes from creating conditions that allow women to sustain themselves with dignity and secure work, not from short-term cash transfers. In Bihar, such initiatives function less as instruments of empowerment and more as tools of electoral strategy, where women are positioned as beneficiaries to be courted, and political loyalty is secured in the most direct way possible: through deposits into their bank accounts.

Where is the money coming from?

The question is not only one of hypocrisy but also of financing. Bihar remains one of India’s poorest states, with limited employment opportunities – a reality reflected in the massive “palayan” of workers seeking livelihoods elsewhere. So where does Bihar, a state with one of the weakest revenue bases, suddenly find Rs 10,000 crore for pre-election handouts?

Local tax collection is minimal, which means much of this money comes, indirectly, from taxpayers across India. Very likely high GST and excise regimes are effectively being channelled into cash transfers designed to win votes. Indian consumers continue to pay some of the highest petrol and diesel prices in the region, even as international crude prices have fallen sharply. In Bihar, petrol costs over Rs 106 per litre. The Union government has consistently refused to cut excise duties, ensuring that the windfall from cheaper global oil remains with the government rather than reaching citizens.

This is not welfare; it’s an attempt to corner the opposition

While direct cash transfers can complement social welfare efforts, they are no substitute for a robust policies that ensures healthcare, education and long-term economic security. The latest round of transfers in Bihar appears less about social support and more about political strategy. What stands out is the stark double standard: the ruling party’s stance on such schemes often flips depending on whether it is in power or in opposition. Disbursing large-scale transfers on the eve of elections risks turning the electoral contest into cash competitions, where political legitimacy is measured by the size of pre-election transfers rather than the quality of governance. In doing so, it sets a troubling precedent: that winning votes depends on last-minute largesse, rather than on policies that actually empower citizens.

Also read: From Margins to Mandate: Demanding Representation in Bihar’s Elections

The current transfer blitz is not just a welfare initiative, it’s an attempt to rewrite the rules of electoral politics by distorting the playing field. Even more striking is the strategic bind it creates for the opposition. The sheer scale of spending, backed by central revenues and the full weight of the state machinery, makes it nearly impossible for rival parties to either oppose or replicate these schemes. Criticising them risks being labelled “anti-women” or indifferent to welfare; attempting to match them invites accusations of populism and fiscal irresponsibility. In both scenarios, the BJP sets the terms of the debate, framing the narrative and decisively tilting the contest in its favour.

In the end, it is clear that past denunciations of election-time “freebies” were never rooted in principle, they were rhetorical weapons aimed at discrediting welfare initiatives led by opposition parties. The very party that derided such schemes as part of a “revdi” culture is now fully engaged in its own version of pre-election largesse. By rolling out massive transfers just weeks before a crucial assembly election, it has made its priorities unmistakable: not governance, not long-term welfare, but sheer political expediency.

Zoya Hasan is Professor Emerita, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

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