Chennai, Feb 15 (BPNS)
It seems that the adage, ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’ has become true for the political parties of Tamil Nadu who have commenced distributing bribes to the voters through e-wallet methods and direct transfer through phone transfers. Interestingly the resident associations are also roped in by paying hefty cash that amounts to lakhs of rupees to collect the telephone numbers and to campaign for the political parties concerned.
AIADMK and BJP complained that the cash distribution is mainly done by the DMK and its cadres were caught gifting Rs 1000 per head to each voter in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. Both BJP and AIADMK have filed separate police complaints on the matter.
However, most of the money transfer is now taking place through UPI transactions as the election commission and the police have enforced strict measures to crack down on people carrying money. The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) has already seized 11.75 lakh rupees in cash from Chennai and gifts equivalent to Rs 1 crore from some political parties which were meant for distribution among the voters.
M. Soundarajan, an anti-corruption crusader from Teynampet, Chennai while speaking to IANS said,” The elections in Tamil Nadu has always been money-spinner and there is no change in it even now. The political parties have become more modern and have now started transferring money through UPI systems collecting the phone numbers of the voters from resident associations.”
Another interesting move by the political parties is to send gift coupons to voters through couriers after collecting their residential addresses. The gift coupons mostly of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 value could be redeemed at the nearby malls and shopping centres.
The ruling front, according to Soundararajan has resorted to power cuts at specific times in Chennai to make the party cadres reach homes and distribute gifts. The gifts are expensive and include mixers, grinders, and clothes. Bath towels and lanterns are attractions and in most of the houses, the cadres have distributed them.
The Tamil Nadu State Election commission said that it has already constituted 45 flying squads to catch the offenders who are trying to lure voters by bribing them.
However political parties including Makkal Needhi Maiam and Ngan Tamilar Kazhagam( NTK) have put the blame squarely on the State Election Commission.
M. Senthil of MNM while speaking to BPNS said, “The state election commission has not conducted proper awareness on the elections and they should have shared the information about clean elections to the people. Clean elections mean elections in which bribe is not given nor accepted. Unless such a situation comes the political parties continue to attract the voters using such tactics side-stepping the essence of democracy.”
With elections to take place on February 19, the political parties of Tamil Nadu have roped in their own close campaign teams but more than all these political parties, especially the ruling party and the opposition AIADMK are banking on money power and gift power to lure the voters and to ensure that they are coming out to vote and vote in favour of the respective political parties.
