The poll battle in Tamil Nadu has turned out to be a freebies war between the AIADMK, the DMK and other outfits vying for power and most promises seem to be unrealistic. A cursory glance through the election manifestos of the Dravidian majors makes one feel whether this is an election or a freebies fair, said S Kalyanaraman, former executive of the Asian Development Bank and a former member of the Indian Railway Accounts Service.

It has already been announced that the AIADMK would offer Rs 1,500 per month to the woman head of each family, six cooking gas cylinders per year, washing machines, solar powered cooker and stoves, 50 per cent subsidy for women commuters in all city buses.

The DMK went one step further and announced Rs 4,000 to each pandemic hit ration holder, and Rs 100 subsidy on every cooking gas cylinder. Besides this woman head of every family in the State would receive from the DMK, a monthly pay packet of Rs 1,000.

“All these freebies are announced with the intention to make the people lazy and fully dependant on the Government doles. There are no concrete announcements about what these parties plan to do to mitigate the drinking water shortage and make Tamil Nadu self sufficient in water. What I understand is that Tamil Nadu’s war for water with Karnataka would intensify,” said Dr Kalyanaraman, a strong water for the national water grid.

Both the DMK and the AIADMK are vying with each other to placate the common man with cash and kind under the label of family pension, said  Dr Kalyanaraman. He also pointed out that the report by 15th Finance Commission led by NK Singh had painted a pathetic picture on the state of economy of Tamil Nadu and this is due to the freebie culture.

“Though I scanned the manifestos of both the parties, I could not find any action plan to address the employment problem haunting the State or any solutions to help the mini, small, medium enterprises (MSME) units in the State, the main wealth generators,” said Sam Rajappa, political commentator.

Tamil Nadu lost more than 12,500 lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the reasons being cited for the spread of the pandemic was the absence of sufficient space in cities like Chennai for social distancing. “There are more than three million persons in Chennai and suburbs who live in unhygienic conditions and overcrowded locations. Unless this issue is resolved, we are certain to see more pandemics and more fatalities,” said Dr Murukadas, former head of the department of economics, Madras University.     

The DMK’s unique promise that it would bring in special legislation to make the State free from National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has been only made to cheat the voters. “How is it possible to bring in a legislation to derail the verdict by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court?” asked Narayanan Thiruppathi, spokesman, Tamil Nadu BJP.

The AIADMK, in its enthusiasm to please the Muslim community which is against the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) has assured them through party manifesto that it would emphasise the Centre to do away with the contentious legislation.

Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami reiterates in all his meetings that the AIADMK remains a secular party despite its alliance with the BJP. “This is an indirect way of telling the electorate that the BJP is a communal organisation,” said Govindarajan Satyamurthi, political commentator  based in Coimbatore. 

The meaninglessness of the new age manifesto comes a full circle with the DMK’s promise that it would retrieve Katchateeve, the islet in the Bay of Bengal which was seceded by India to Sri Lanka in 1976. “To retrieve Katchatheeve we have to wage a war with Sri Lanka,” the Centre had told the apex court during a hearing on the topic.

“The question is whether DMK has the wherewithal  for such an adventure,” said Sathyamurthi.