NTK chief coordinator Seeman on Monday criticised political parties for presenting welfare giveaways as election “promises”, alleging that voters were being misled. He made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the Chennai airport.
Seeman argued that a real manifesto promise should focus on core public rights and long-term measures, such as ensuring free education, healthcare and drinking water, and creating local jobs by setting up industries based on land and natural resources.
He said announcements such as depositing Rs 10,000 in bank accounts or offering large education loans amounted to “empty declarations”, and questioned whether parties were acting like moneylenders or running banks. Education, he said, is a right that the government must provide rather than push people towards debt.
Pointing to competing claims of higher cash transfers and more LPG cylinders, Seeman asked how such benefits could be delivered and warned that implementing the announced schemes would require borrowing on a massive scale. He claimed this would mean mortgaging the country’s resources and land, and questioned the purpose of leadership if governance depended on such debt-driven giveaways.
