AIADMK's Election Manifesto!!! Very interesting

AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa declared a war of populism against DMK on Thursday, opening her poll bag of freebies that more than matched the DMK's. If DMK president M Karunanidhi had promised free mixies and grinders to women, Jayalalithaa sought to outdo her bête noire, offering both, plus a fan to each woman in the state. If that means increased load and power demand, the manifesto promises to provide three-phase power connection across the state in four years.

All families living below poverty line (BPL) have been promised 20 litres of water daily. Families below the poverty line now getting the government's Re-1-a-kg rice would get 20 kg of rice free. This, however, does not match the DMK's offer of 35 kg of free rice.

Jayalalithaa sought to pamper students - and thereby their parents - promising free laptops to all class XI and class XI students, and college students, besides four free sets of uniforms and a pair of shoes for schoolchildren. The DMK manifesto had promised laptops for first year students SC/ST, MBC and BC. The AIADMK manifesto proposes to set up a students' protection force to guard children against attacks and trafficking. ( Read: Karunanidhi's victory mantra: Free laptops to all students )

The AIADMK manifesto offers a big bunch of freebies for the financially weaker sections. It promises free houses of 300 sq ft each, costing Rs 1.8 lakh, to three lakh BPL families. Other promises for rural areas include 60,000 cows for 6,000 families increasing milk production from 2.5 million litres to 10 million litres. Families below the poverty line will also get four sheep. Women remain at the centre of Jayalalithaa's scheme of things. Women's self help groups will get loans up to Rs 10 lakh, with a waiver of 25%. Pregnant women have been promised Rs 12,000 during four months of maternity leave. Marriage assistance for poor women would be enhanced to Rs 25,000, with a four-gram gold coin as a special gift. For those women with a diploma, the wedding assistance would be Rs 50,000.

The manifesto gives enough reasons for the elderly, too, to grin. All persons above the age of 58 will be given free passes to travel by bus across districts. The DMK manifesto had promised free bus passes for senior citizens in local town buses. The AIADMK has also offered shelters for senior citizens.

For fishermen, if the DMK had promised an insurance scheme and increase in subsidised diesel, the AIADMK has offered a special protection force and an assistance of Rs 4,000 each during four lean months.

Political analyst Cho Ramaswamy called the populism an inevitable part of the electoral race. "When the ruling party continues to play populism, how can the opposition keep silent. It has become an inevitable game," he told TOI. 

Some Interesting features are,

Some salient features of the manifesto

• 5 lakh IT Jobs in 5 years
• Opening a Engineering colleges equivalent to IIT Chennai in more then 5 major cities of Tamilnadu
• Ensure Tamilnadu garden of peace
• Develop new technology for more growth
• Take the states economy to new heights
• Introduce more development schemes for people’s welfare
• Eradicate illiteracy
• Improve the lot of women
• Attracting foreign companies to invest in Tamilnadu
• Works towards prosperity of farmers, weavers, fishermen, students, government employees, teachers, workers and other sections of peoples.
• Control prices
• Snuff out communalism, extremism, un separatism
• Deal with inter-state issues in amicable manner