Parties vie to woo voters

VV Balakrishna I ENS

HYDERABAD: First Published : 09 Jan 2009 08:00:00 AM

POLITICAL parties seems to be vying with each other to woo the voters with freebies. After Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) president Chiranjeevi announced the `Rs 100 package’ to supply rice and other essentials to white card-holders, it is now the turn of the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to say that it would give the same package for less than Rs 100.
According to TDP sources, the party was seriously examining the package announced by the PRP and it would be discussed in its next manifesto committee meeting scheduled to be held on January 24.
“We have already announced that 25 kg of rice will be supplied free of cost to white cardholders.
If we include tamarind, redgram, edible oil in the list it will come for less than Rs 100,’’ a TDP leader asserted.
It may be recalled that the Congress Government preempted the TDP’s plans to announce Rs-2-a-kg rice scheme. After the State Government revived the scheme recently, the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu announced that the rice would supplied free of cost. Now, that the PRP announced an attractive package, the TDP was planning to come out with much more attractive package with lesser price.
Already, the TDP gave more than 200 promises including free power to tillers during day time and 100 Assembly tickets to BCs. The Congress on the other hand too announced several sops.