DC Edit | With The Promise Of Freebies, Fairytale Season Before Polls
A party like the ruling DMK, apart from increasing the assistance that they have been extending to well-defined sections of the population, has spoken about improving industrial growth and generating more jobs. But none of the parties, including those professing allegiance to lofty principles and ideologies, have spoken about totally eradicating poverty, hunger, unemployment and discrimination in society. These are indeed achievable goals. But parties are not bothered
The way elections have evolved over the years is such that, in 2026, they give goosebumps to those who read manifestoes. The key stakeholders, who are undoubtedly the political parties, do not burden the people with spiels on democracy or good governance or fair play or principles or ideologies or idealism but come out blatantly on what they would like to give in lieu of votes.
Ranging from refrigerators to a coupon worth Rs 8,000 with which beneficiaries could pick any domestic appliance, parties are becoming creative in their campaigns turning the hustings into a season of fairytales and competitive appeasement. If a party dishes out a promise like a free refrigerator, if voted to power in the April 23 elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the rival comes up with the idea of a gift hamper worth the cost of a refrigerator.
The parties do not, however, explain from where they would be able to mobilise the funds for such gifts and other packages of goodies which they do in promising good times for the people. Some parties also seek to assuage popular sentiments through the manifestoes, like the one about reserving 75 per cent of jobs in the private sector for local people. Whether laws could be brought in to support such ideas that are against the Constitution is not a question that they wish to address now.
Many parties just want to replicate what their rivals did or promised some time back, even if they themselves had criticised the same scheme earlier. It only means that they just want to capture the imagination of voters and have no intention of doing any good for the state. They tend to subscribe to whatever may go down well with the people. To put it otherwise, few parties contesting the elections have a vision for the development of the state or its economic progress.
A party like the ruling DMK, apart from increasing the assistance that they have been extending to well-defined sections of the population, has spoken about improving industrial growth and generating more jobs. But none of the parties, including those professing allegiance to lofty principles and ideologies, have spoken about totally eradicating poverty, hunger, unemployment and discrimination in society. These are indeed achievable goals. But parties are not bothered.
The most that the political parties would like to offer is to increase assistance under various schemes to disadvantaged sections of the population and not to find out why there should be such gross inequality among the people that some sections should continue depending on the doles and not emerge on their own economically. Some of the schemes that the parties promise are already in force and parties are giving only new names to existing welfare schemes, not knowing whether it could be done.
For example, the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam would like to launch ‘Anjali Ammal Fast Track Women’s Courts’. Since courts dealing with women’s cases are already functioning, giving it the name is only a promise, which may not be permissible in the legal system. It appears that all manifestos are padded up like fiction with political parties not knowing what they are, or even what elections are meant for.
