The ascendency of India as an economic world power

Democracy is supposed to be the government of the people by the people and for the people. However, in third world countries, rich people can often take advantage of the system and the poor have to suffer. However, when it comes to the election time then the rich politicians have to depend on the votes of the poor people to come to the power. So, they have to give some election pledges to the poor people. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (DMK) promised before the state election of Tamil Nadu that if it gets elected to power then it would ensure color television sets for all the poor families.

This pledge became very popular among the voters and the party could secure the control of the state assembly thanks to the support that came from the poor voters. In this part of the world, often, the political leaders forget their promises after being elected to the power. The good thing is that the top leaders of DMK did not forget their promise of providing television set to the poor families. The state government has already distributed nearly 60,000 TV sets and 30,000 more sets are to be given to the poor families.

Boston.com reported:

 

Declaring color television a basic necessity, an Indian political party promised free sets to the poor and swept to power in May in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. So far, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, or DMK, has handed out 60,000 sets and plans to give away 30,000 more in coming months.

 

As far as political platforms go, this one clearly has been a winner.

 

"I will always vote for DMK," said Parimala, a 51-year-old widow who like many in these parts uses only one name.

You may call it a bribe but a good one I suppose. Indians are crazy for television programs. The poor families who have received the TV sets- are now connected to the rest of the world. More than everything else, they have now some kind of entertainment after a hard day’s work. Tamil Nadu is one of the richest states in India and that is why the government would have no problem to provide TV sets to the poor families.

I do not like the idea of buying votes with color TV sets but the example of Tamil Nadu is something I want to see it to be replicated in other parts of India. Giving a TV set is much better than giving some food or empty promises.