The AIADMK and the DMK, which have promised numerous populist measures in their respective manifestos, have their own interpretations of the Election Commission of India’s requirement that poll promises must reflect the rationale and indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for their implementation.
Section 3 (iii) of paragraph VIII of the ECI guidelines on manifesto states: “In the interest of transparency, level-playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it.”
DMK leader R.S. Bharathi said, “The promises made in our manifesto are only schemes. Where is the financial commitment in them? We have only announced after looking into the feasibility.”
AIADMK legal wing joint secretary R.M. Babu Murugavel contended that there was no need for a party to spell out the ways and means for every announcement in the manifesto.
He explained that the government’s recent waiver of farm loans to the tune of ₹12,110 crore was only based on the pending funds that the State government was set to receive from the Centre as GST compensation.
Retired IAS officer and convenor of Forum for Electoral Integrity M.G. Devasahayam said, “These promises are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise.”
In the absence of rationale, the promises in the manifestos “would render impossible the holding of free and fair elections with a level-playing field,” he argued.
