The Curse of Populism

Delhi is the national capital of India. The city from where the country of 1.4 billion people is governed. However, politically, Delhi is a small state with only 7 parliamentary seats, but the significance that anything and everything of Delhi has on the rest of the country is unprecedented. With the advent of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, the new style of politics has started in the country. The politics of populism, which in its truest sense establishes a give-and-take relationship between the people and political party. The populist policies of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party are not only changing the psyche of Delhites but also the people of the rest of the country. Therefore, it has become more important than ever to talk about such policy and politics: Are they even viable enough? 

Philosophy of Populism

As per Mr. Kejriwal, the philosophy of such schemes lies on the basis that it is the responsibility of the state to provide its citizens with the basic facilities required to sustain life. However, earlier only providing free education, electricity, transport, and health was part of it, but recently they have added direct “cash” transfers also to the gambit of social justice. But this philosophy is as broken as Karl Marx’s communist utopia, which may look good on paper but was very impractical to apply. Let’s understand this with one instrument that the Aam Aadmi Party uses to materialise their theory, which is free electricity.

Violation of Economical Viability

The course of history has provided us with the parameters that anything that is socially acceptable, economically viable, technologically feasible, and environmentally sustainable can become part of society in the long run. But the idea of free electricity ultimately gives rise to a notion that believes free electricity is the right of the people. Now if we analyse this notion, then we will find that free electricity is not economically viable as it is creating a lot of pressure from the government exchequer. As per the 2024-25 budget provisions of the Delhi government, almost 97% of the total amount allocated to the power sector is used in paying off the electricity bills due to the policy of free electricity. This shows that for further development of this sector, the state government is only left with 3% of the total allocated budget to the power sector. Therefore, how can the government be able to spend money on something that is really important to promote sustainable growth, like solar energy? 

Technological Degradation

Today’s violation of the economical viability of electricity is also stopping or delaying the technological feasibility of the future. In the future we may achieve a world where free electricity becomes a right in its true sense, but for that we need to invest in it today. As Peter Thiel in his book, “Zero to One,” mentioned that such developments require new innovations with proper scientific backing. Therefore, it can only be possible if we develop from zero to one and not from one to one. Additionally, today’s free electricity is not even environmentally sustainable; the act of free electricity has led to the injudicious use. As per the data of the Delhi government, the peak energy demand in Delhi has increased by 30% between 2015 and 2023. The analysis done by the Centre for Science and Environment has warned people that this injudicious use of free electricity will become very expensive for them in the future.

Conclusion

In conclusion, out of all the parameters, only social acceptance is one that works in the favour of the philosophy of populism, and that’s the reason why such policies are named as populist policies. In his book, “The Wisdom of Crowds,” James Surowiecki states that collective wisdom is always wiser than the wisdom of a few people, but that too when the crowd is rational enough. Those who argue in favour of populism need to ask themselves: Are they being rational while supporting the idea of populism, or are they lured and corrupted by the freebies?