Election manifestos in Bengal showering unrealistic promises: Experts

As the election race heats up in West Bengal, political parties are releasing manifestos making big promises which they are highlighting in their respective campaign programmes. Political scientists are of the opinion that if any government tries to fulfil these promises then the state will totally go bankrupt.

Kolkata (West Bengal): The election heat is on in West Bengal. Each political party is putting on its best to win the elections. Already all the major political forces in the state have come out with their respective election manifestos. All these manifestos make big promises which they are highlighting in their respective campaign programmes.

However, renowned educationists and political scientists from the state are in doubts how far these promises will be fulfilled after the elections are over and the new government is formed, considering the limited sources of revenue generation for the already cash-strapped state exchequer in West Bengal. Political scientists are of the opinion that if any government tries to fulfil these promises then the state government will totally go bankrupt. The only questions that all the educationists and political scientists are asking that where the money for fulfilling the high-sounding promises will come from.

Renowned political observer, Bishwanath Chakraborty is of the opinion that the manner in which all the political promises are promising of doles is nothing but a shadow of popular politics. “On one hand, they are speaking of economic reforms. On the other hand, in the election manifestos they are speaking of something that makes the voters dependent on the state. This is self-contradictory both in political as well as in political perspectives,” Chakraborty said.

Renowned political scientist and former principal of the- then Presidency College, Dr Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay said that this trend of making big promises in the election manifestos is a dangerous trend. “The West Bengal government is already burdened with debt. I do not think that fulfilling these promises after coming out this debt trap is any achievable task,” he said.

He also said that generally the political parties forget about the promises that they make in election manifestos. “But political parties should make achievable promises. The question is that where from the money will come. The state exchequer is cash strapped,” Mukhopadhyay added.

Calcutta University’s former registrar general, Rajagopal Dhar Chowdhury said that making such high-ranking promises tantamount to pushing the state’s economy towards bankruptcy. “The current accumulated debt burden on West Bengal is Rs 5 lakh crore. Now if the same regime continues, I am scared thinking to what extent this accumulated debt burden will skyrocket to. This means inevitable bankruptcy. However, if BJP comes to power there might be a slight advantage that the Union government will provide financial assistance to the state government to fulfill some of the promises made in the manifesto. However, doubts remain on how much all the promises by all the political parties can be fulfilled,” he said.

Chakraborty, on the other hand, said that in the current political situation of West Bengal there is also an indirect pressure on all political parties.