In assembly polls campaign, Jayalalithaa promises free cell phones, 50% off on scooters

CHENNAI: AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa on Thursday unveiled her party manifesto for the May 16 assembly elections, promising freebies such as mobile phones to all 1.92 crore ration card holders, 50% subsidy on scooters for working women, 100 units of free power and free Wi-Fi at public places.“I have fulfilled all the promises made in the last election. This time I'll do more than you can imagine (if returned to office)," she said in Perunthurai in Tamil Nadu's Erode district. In 2011, she had a similar manifesto, outdoing her rivals in the last leg of the campaign. The promises are largely meant for first-time voters and women who form her core constituency.

After the last election, she had distributed free laptops to class 11and 12 students. Now they have been promised free internet connectivity.The `Amma bonanza' comes at a stage in the campaign when the DMK was seen to be gaining ground.

DMK's Karunanidhi had announced tablets for 16 lakh school students and smartphones for the poor.He had also promised power subsidies, lower milk prices and a waiver on educational and farm loans. Jayalalithaa has incorporated most of these, and gone a few steps ahead.

Highlights of the AIADMK manifesto, released on Thursday, include a complete waiver of all farm loans, Rs 40,000-crore loans for farmers from 2016-21, no FDI in retail, free laptops with internet for Class 10th and 12th students, free set top boxes to all Arasu cable TV subscribers, and up to 100 units of electricity free of cost to consumers, which will exempt 78 lakh domestic consumers from paying electricity bill. The poor have been promised an Amma banking card to avail of all government services while a Rs 50-crore Amma Venture Capital fund will be set up for first generation entrepreneurs. The manifesto also talks of breakfast for primary schoolchildren. PMK member Anbumani madoss, who has positio Ramadoss, who has positioned himself as an alternative to the two veterans, said, “The government has increased the financial burden on the state. This will go further up.“

The TN poll debate is gradually veering away from personality cults to the themes of development and corruption, especially in urban areas.

Both AIADMK and DMK have focussed on jobs, infrastructure, start-ups, industry and investments. DMK's leader-in-waiting M K Stalin agreed that jobs mattered more to young voters than freebies.For the first time, both parties have promised an anti-corruption ombudsman.