Explained: Will Ignoring Poll-Bound Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand In Budget Prove Costly For BJP, NDA?

The Budget 2024, the first full budget of Modi 3.0, saw many BJP and its ally-ruled states getting sops. While Bihar got Rs 41,000 crore, Andhra Pradesh got Rs 15,000 crore. The Union Government also announced floor relief measures for states like Himachal Pradesh and Assam. However, nothing much was announced for poll-bound states like Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir except for the routine funds. This may surprise many as poll-bound states often get many sops in the budget as the ruling party tries to cash on the sentiments. This has already given the opposition parties a chance to claim discrimination among the ruling and opposition states. 

Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal said, "The concept of a budget has already been destroyed by this year's Union Budget. They have completely discriminated against most of the states. So the general sentiment of the INDIA bloc meeting was we have to protest against this."

However, the NDA government's move behind not assigning more focus to Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra may have two key reasons. The first reason is likely to keep the allies happy and the government running. Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were demanding special status but they have been given special packages. This ensures that the two key allies are happy and will keep supporting the BJP at the centre. This is why the budget lacked on reform initiative for which the Narendra Modi government is known. 

The second reason is the initiatives taken by the concerned states. Ahead of the polls, the BJP government in Haryana and the NDA government in Maharashtra have taken steps to woo the voters while Jharkhand is ruled by the opposition INDIA bloc - Congress-JMM-RJD.

In Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced two key schemes - Ladki Behan Yojana and Ladla Bhai Yojana which are aimed at giving financial aid to women and youth of the state. In this way, the ruling NDA will be able to woo more than 50% of the state's population including first-time voters and unemployed youth. 

In Haryana, the BJP government recently announced an increase in the creamy layer income ceiling for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh annually. Additionally, they introduced a 5% quota for the OBC-B category in Panchayati Raj Institutions and municipalities. The government has also issued a notification regarding the raised creamy layer ceiling for OBCs. OBCs, comprising 78 castes, make up about 40% of Haryana’s population. Targeting this significant voter base ahead of the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, the BJP replaced Manohar Lal, a Punjabi, with Nayab Saini, an OBC leader, as the Chief Minister in March this year.

Jharkhand is ruled by the opposition alliance. The BJP-led NDA won nine of the 14 Lok Sabha seats, thus outsmarting the ruling alliance. The BJP is hopeful that the anti-incumbency and corruption allegation against the Hemant Soren-led JMM-RJD-Congress government will benefit the BJP. Thus, of the three key poll-bound states, the BJP took a risk in just one which is Jharkhand where it feels that a change is inevitable.