Why manifestos mean so much in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Five summers ago, when M Karunanidhi released the DMK manifesto for the 2011 assembly elections, many thought it was his masterstroke. Having delivered on his 2006 promise of free colour TV sets, this time the DMK sought to move from the voter's drawing room to the kitchen with the promise of free mixies or grinders -whichever the woman of the house chose.

Also up for grabs were free laptops for SCST students and 35kg of free rice for families below the poverty line.

Three days later, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa beat Karunanidhi at his game: Why choose between a mixie and a grinder, she told voters, take both. As Karunanidhi sweated over a counter strategy, Amma offered each household a fan too.

What followed was a tit-for-tat, as the electorate watched with glee. But with Jayalalithaa unbundling her sop bag overflowing with free rice, laptops for all senior students and gold for women, there were no prizes for guessing the winner. And with the AIADMK government delivering the doles, even adding goats to the goodies, the manifesto was redefined as a popular document.

So, today, the making of the manifesto is serious business in political war rooms. Parties constitute panels with senior members and external experts, including economists, to brainstorm; the media and voters wait curiously for the highlights. DMK's this time is a two-part manifesto, with glossy pages and multi-colour text under heads of sectors and districts. While the party's proposals on education, health and welfare have mostly been glossed over, the mention of free smartphones has got the eyeballs.

IIT economics professor M Suresh Babu sees the newfound importance of manifestos as a sign of sopdriven, competitive politics. "Parties have realised that promises matter more than vision, especially with on, especially with the middle-class, to bring about an electoral swing. Earlier, party cadres delivered on promises and report cards, now manifestos do it," says Babu.

In the process, he notes, the relevance of welfare has been hijacked by freebies. "It's unfortunate that a large part of the public discussions on manifestos are about freebies." And here is the danger of mistaking freebies for welfare measures, and proposals with long-lasting welfare potential not being debated.

Observer and retired Madras HC judge K Chandru doesn't think people take manifestos seriously , but agrees freebies have an impact, sometimes unexpected."DMK gained from promising TV sets in 2006, but later analysts concluded that it lost the 2011 polls as the same TV sets beamed programmes showing the negatives of the government," he says.

But do freebies amount to bribing voters? Chandru draws attention to a petition by Subramaniya Balaji, an advocate who sought a ban on freebies in manifestos as they amounted to illegal gratification.

The Supreme Court bench headed by then Chief Justice P Sathasivam rejected the petition and held that they are similar to the directive principles of state policy found under Part IV of the Constitution. It extracted the election manifesto of AIADMK (2009).

The court held that the Election Commission should take a call. Though the poll panel issued notice to parties, nothing came of it.

Implementing the DMK's 2016 manifesto would cost TN an additional Rs 70,000 crore, 70% of the state's revenue. If you think that is impossible, wait for Amma's manifesto.