But soon the Center and the BJP began offering voters a series of freebies that were called social welfare schemes and not ‘Revdi’. What has changed? The elections were held in the backward core states, collectively called “BIMARU”. Till a few years ago, South India was more known for election giveaways (free TVs and grinders etc.), but not anymore.

A current study by the Center for New Economics Studies (CNES) at OP Jindal Global University provides new insights into this.

The CNES created the Access (In)Equality Index to measure people’s access to human development opportunities (five “pillars”) – basic services (water, sanitation, housing, nutrition, clean energy, digital access), health care, Education, socioeconomic security and justice. Depending on their overall performance, states were divided into (i) aspirants, (ii) achievers and (iii) leaders.

· The states with the best scores (more than 0.42), so-called “frontrunners”, are 12: Goa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Mizoram, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Haryana.

· The worst performers (less than 0.33), so-called ‘aspirants’, are six: Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

· The average top performers (0.33-0.42), called “top performers”, are 10: Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Tripura, West Bengal, Manipur and Meghalaya.

Note that the Hindi heartland states that participated in the polls had either average or worst results – no top performers. This should tell the story and relevance of election gifts.

The Prime Minister acknowledged the role of election gifts by describing his party’s victory as the victory of the poor, disadvantaged, farmers and tribals. The BJP won 52 of the 81 parliamentary seats lost in the “emerging districts” of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana – doubling its 23-seat victory in 2018.

“Aspirational Districts” are the “least developed districts” and 112 of them were selected for special attention and in January 2018, “Aspirational Districts Program” (ADP) was launched for their rapid and effective transformation.