‘Plea to regulate manifestos’

The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has urged the Election Commission of India, and the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, to take a serious note of freebies that political parties promise in manifestos.

Guidelines

In a letter the Chief Election Commissioner, the consumer body’s secretary K. Kathirmathiyon said that the Commission should come out with guidelines to regulate announcements related to freebies in manifestos.

While the Election Commission considered as illegal cash for vote and was trying its best to control the same, it did very little in terms of freebies in manifestos.

Freebies

The Commission that considered cash for vote as bribe for votes should take a similar view of the freebies as it was deferred bribe to voters.

The only difference between the two was that the expenditure in cash for votes would be borne by political parties but when it came to freebies by elected parties, the money spent would be that of the State Government, Mr. Kathirmathiyon said.

There could be no restriction on the manifestos of parties according to the Representation of People’s Act.

But the Commission should take a view on it, as suggested by the Supreme Court, he added.

Promising free goods to voters is nothing but ‘deferred bribe,’ says letter to EC