Impending Polls and Indian Economy

First of all, there is typically a surge in economic activity because of the activities around campaigning, advertising and publicity, open meetings and mobilisation of voters. All these spending generates significant amount of direct employment. Such work may be temporary, but it nevertheless has relatively high multiplie effects, leading to more activity and more employment being created indirectly. Then there are the more problematic attempts to buy voters, through cash or other goodies—which may raise legal and ethical concerns, but also mean more spending, with more diverse effects. Since spending before elections has increased in India, the aftermath have been correspondingly greater. The last general elections (2014) was the most expensive ever, with an estimated $5 billion being spent by the major parties, particularly the current ruling party, BJP. This was three times...