Click to play videoHyderabad: With elections coming near, its raining freebies in Andhra Pradesh. Political parties are promising voters everything from free televisions to free electricity.
The SOP offered by the then Telegu Desam Party (TDP) supremo NT Rama Rao in 1983 of rice at Rs 2 a kilo set the trend of Andhra politicians promising the world to their potential voters.
TDP Chandrababu Naidu said, "We have decided to give free colour TV's to one crore families as it will give entertainment and information."
Chandrababu Naidu has also offered a monthly pension ranging between Rs 1000-2000 for families of lower middle class and below. But the congress seems to be doing all the maths for them and has expressed apprehension about the economic feasibility of this proposal.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "I'm just asking, where are the revenues for this coming from."
The new entrant Chiranjeevi's Prajarajyam also refuses to be left behind. Chiranjeevi has promised 10 hours of free power to farmers, small scale industries and scrapping SEZ's that have encroached upon farmers lands.
But the one that's raised eyebrows is the promise of giving out 2-5 acres of land to the needy. which election-hardened voters are finding difficult to digest.
Though at this stage, the parties are yet to announce their final manifestos, going by the indications so far, the only change in trend seems to be that minority appeasement may figure slightly lower on the priority list this time around.
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