The Election Commission (EC) has censured the AIADMK for having announced a slew of freebies in its 2016 Assembly election manifesto without detailing the ways and means to meet the financial requirement for fulfilling the said promises. The poll body found the party’s explanations “unsatisfactory”.
In contrast, an EC press release said, it accepted the DMK’s explanation on how it intended to fund its freebies though it felt that the same should have been detailed in the manifesto itself.
Soon after the two Dravidian parties released their respective manifestos, retired bureaucrat M.G. Devasahayam had complained to the EC that the political outfits had failed to explain how they would fund these proposals. Acting on it, the EC had sought detailed responses from the two parties.
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In its manifesto, the AIADMK had announced waiver of farm loans due to cooperative banks; free distribution of washing machine, steam boiler and idly cooker for Adi-Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Hostels; gift coupons of Rs. 500 for all ration cardholders to purchase handloom textiles from Cooptex during Pongal; free mobile phones to all family card holders; and ‘Amma Banking Card’ to poor and middle-class people. Other schemes such as offering 50 per cent subsidy on two-wheelers purchased by women were also announced. The EC observed that no rationale or/and detail on the ways and means to meet the financial requirement for fulfilling such promises has been provided in the manifesto.