Activists urge ECI to act against those making unrealistic vows

In a letter to ECI, C Selvaraj, president of ATAC said that the inaction on the part of the Commission during previous elections has emboldened the political parties to continue with their hoodwinking attitudes and the situation decays into irrecoverable depths.

Two major parties – AIADMK and DMK – in the State have come out with several promises offering monthly payment to housewives ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,000 and waiver of farm and education loans apart from offering free washing machines and tablets to households. Pointing to the State’s debt of Rs 5.7 lakh crore, Selvaraj said that the implementation of various assurances of the political parties would require an additional budgetary allocation to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore. He urged the ECI to exercise its power under Article 324 of the Constitution to initiate criminal proceedings against the persons of such political parties, who came out with such near impossible election manifestos.