A sudden outcry.

In a first during our lifetimes, "The Supreme Court (SC)...termed freebies promised by political parties during elections as a serious issue of national importance and asked the Centre to specify by August 3 its stand, in consultation with the Finance Commission, on how to regulate it." TOI. What is astounding is that politicians have been doling out subsidies since before we were born but we cannot remember the SC ever questioning it. There are over 50 social schemes currently running in India, most involving vast sums of money. wikipedia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been announcing schemes almost daily since being elected in 2014. Jagranjosh. Modi announced farmers' loan waiver before general election in 2019, DC, and then announced a monthly pension scheme of Rs 3000 for small and marginal farmers and a minimum income support scheme of Rs 6000 per year for farmers costing billions of rupees. ET. "May God save the Election Commission of India (ECI) if it can only wring its hands when electorates are sought to be bribed through freebies, the Supreme Court observed." HT. "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal...promised that his party would provide free electricity up to 300 units per month if voted to power in Gujarat, where elections are due in December this year." TOI. With similar inducements the AAP won a record 92 out of 117 seats in Punjab in March 2022. HT. That is just too big a majority to entice away. Politicians in India are known to switch sides after being elected. About 45 percent of re-contesting MLAs (182 of 405) who switched political parties between 2016 and 2020 joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)." BS. BJP is Modi's party and Gujarat is his home state. In 2020, "The Congress...alleged that the ruling BJP offered monetary and other inducements to its legislators in Gujarat to switch sides." HT. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Modi government has transferred billions of rupees to agencies in Gujarat which "did not reflect in the Gujarat government's annual finance accounts". The Wire. And not just one bullet train service to Mumbai, but a second one to Delhi will be built. AM. So, winning assembly election in Gujarat should be a slam dunk. A 34-year old man from Mehsana in Gujarat promised to pay Rs 15 million to be smuggled into the US along with his wife and 3 children. Unfortunately, he could manage only Rs 10 million for which he was kept prisoner and tortured by the gang. TOI. The man suffered a stroke and was in a hospital in Cancun in Mexico. At least this family is alive. In February, another family of four from Gujarat froze to death in Canada while trying to cross the border into the US on foot after paying Rs 7.5 million to people smugglers. BBC. Why would people pay such humongous sums for a hazardous passage to the US from the paradise state of Gujarat? Does that explain the sudden outcry over freebies?