Stringent action should be taken against the ruling parties which force the hand of their respective State governments to hurriedly disburse scheme-related benefits to voters just before the elections, Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSRC party said on August 17.
In an impleadment application filed in the Supreme Court late in the day, the YSRCP said the intent of such parties was clearly to mock democracy.
But on the other hand there are also parties that introduce "well-formulated programmes after careful deliberations and with absolute clarity as to the intended objectives".
"Such political parties are working hard with an aim not devoid of merit. In this scenario, it would be unfair to generalise and describe those welfare programmes as freebies," the party said.
It is seeking to intervene in the freebies case being heard in the Supreme Court.
The party said the Jagan Reddy government's implementation of welfare measures in the State was aimed to bring succour to an Andhra Pradesh suffering from the widespread economic deprivation caused by the bifurcation in 2014.
"Owing to the inequitable reorganisation, the successor State of Andhra Pradesh inherited 58% of the combined State’s population but only 45% of the combined State’s revenues. Added to this, the policy paralysis in the State during the period 2014-19 has resulted in many crucial sectors such as education, health and agriculture demonstrating poor performance," the application said in the top court.
