#1. March 28: PM Narendra Modi outlines seven-point scheme to double farmers’ income. Yesterday in New Delhi: Modi asks cooperatives to get into new business streams to double farmers’ income. By 2022. Varanasi, today: Modi says his government is trying to double farmers’ income by 2022.
Back in 64 BC, the orator par excellence Marcus Tullius Cicero was contesting for the post of consul of Rome. His brother Quintus, a Senator, wrote a primer on how to fight elections, titled How To Win An Election. It is an interesting read — the recommendations of then continue to figure in the playbook of today. One such tip, which should be familiar to anyone who has followed any election, anywhere, runs:
Promise everything to everybody.
Back in 2014, Modi in course of his election campaign told farmers that the minimum support price formula would be rewritten — “the entire cost of production, plus 50%”. This was in line with the MS Swamination Commission’s recommendations made during the UPA regime.
Smoke Signals 