ELECTION FREEBIES WARS HEAT UP IN TAMIL NADU

P.Vijian

CHENNAI, March 25 (Bernama) -- Election campaigns are becoming an
increasingly costly affair for politicians in South India, as they shift from traditional free gifts like sarees for women to laptops for students.

Voters in Tamil Nadu are being lured with all sorts of freebies, from rice cookers, mixers, free rice for housewives, and laptops for students to gold for poor new brides -- some popular items on party manifestoes.

As the southern Tamil Nadu state, boosting about 65 million people, gears for the 14th Legislative Assembly polls on April 13, the freebies war to capture voters is heating up.

Leading parties like the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), headed by chief minister M. Karunanidhi and his arch political rival actress-turned-politician J. Jayalalithaa, leading AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) are in the race to form the next government.

Last week, DMK kicked off its campaign, promising laptops for engineering students, 35kg of rice every month for poor families, free grinders or mixers for housewives to free electricity to coconut and horticulture farmers.

To counter DMK, Jayalalithaa dolled out a juicier manifesto this week –
among them -- electric fan, each woman to receive a mixer and grinder, laptops for students, free goats and cows, four grammes of gold plus 25,000 Indian rupees (RM1,700) as a gift to new brides. (US$1=RM3.02)

In addition, if the bride is a graduate, she gets extra – 50,000 Indian rupees (RM3,400) and gold too.

"DMK has promised either grinder or mixer whereas I will give you both, remember," Jayalalithaa told her voters.

It is just the beginning of electoral campaigns in the prosperous state, but political punters say the list could lengthen as politicians would try to outwit their rivals.