‘NYAY Is The Smartest Thing The Congress Has Done So Far’, Says Prannoy Roy

The Congress' scheme to guarantee Rs 72,000 a year per family for India's poorest may be the “smartest election promise” the party has made yet, according to NDTV Co-Founder and Author Prannoy Roy.

The NYAY (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) scheme would seem more attractive to voters than the Bharatiya Janata Party's PM-Kisan scheme that gives farmers Rs 6,000 per year, Roy said during an interaction with BloombergQuint on the upcoming election and his new book, ‘The Verdict'—that defines the ‘Index of Opposition Unity' and analyses its impact in Uttar Pradesh.

Roy, however, said while the campaign promise may work in the Congress' favor, its decision to stay out of the opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, that sends 80 parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha, is a “big mistake”.

Agreed his co-author and psephologist Dorab Sopariwala. Staying out of the alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party that could have restricted the BJP to 10-15 seats in the state could now get it as many as 40 seats, he told BloombergQuint. The BJP, along with allies, had won 73 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the last general election.

Watch the full interview with Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala here: