15 Lakh Mila Kya?

“If we bring back the money of these thieves and robbers from foreign banks, then each and every poor person of our country will get ₹15–20 lakh for free.” Said at a campaign rally in Kanker, Chhattisgarh.

No such amount has ever been credited to any citizen's bank account. In February 2015, BJP president Amit Shah told ABP News the figure was “a jumla,” saying “15 lakhs will not be credited to anyone's account… it was a way of delivering a speech.” A campaign-trail estimate got recast, after the fact, as a rhetorical device. This exchange is also where “jumla” entered mainstream Indian political vocabulary as shorthand for an empty poll promise. That's where this website's name comes from, too.

“The one time a political party accidentally coined its own opposition's favourite insult. It's still in use a decade later.”