Parties must avoid excessive freebies, focus on development, says ex-Minister Semmalai
Senior AIADMK leader and former Education and Health Minister S. Semmalai on Saturday appealed to political parties to refrain from offering a host of freebies.
Asked if the free gift craze announced by major political parties as part of their election assurances would facilitate the development of Tamil Nadu, the 80-year-old former Minister replied firmly: “Absolutely not! It should be avoided. Political party leaders should understand this.” He added that his prescription also applies to the Union government.
Pointing out that the State government’s outstanding debt will cross the ₹ 10-lakh-crore mark by 2026-27, from around ₹ 5.19 lakh crore five years ago, Mr. Semmalai, who represented Salem in the Lok Sabha during 2009-14, asserted that this would be double the figure accrued by the State in the last 50 years. “The loan was even taken to meet the interest payment commitment.”
Criticizing the DMK government for not significantly increasing capital expenditure in the last five years, the former Minister said the current regime, keeping in mind “vote bank politics”, was “wasting” funds with the aim of giving them away for free. At least in the future, higher allocations to capital expenditure should be made to enable the implementation of more infrastructure development projects and ultimately trigger more revenue generation.
Clarifying that he was not for the abolition of freebies, he, however, stipulated that freebies be targeted towards the needy, vulnerable sections of society so that the living standards were raised. “Instead of giving it away for free, you can give it a grant,” he suggested.
When asked about AIADMK’s freebies, Mr. Semmalai replied: “There is no other way out. We have to dress up like other parties. But once we come to power, we will correct the trend and provide more funds for capital expenditure.”
When asked about the party’s frequent electoral disruptions in the last 10 years, the former MP, who is not seeking a party ticket in the upcoming elections, said, “Electoral success or defeat is not important for any political party. What is more important is the party infrastructure and network, which remains intact in our case.”
mutual consequences
The AIADMK, which is seeing its golden jubilee, had defeated the DMK, which was founded in 1949, seven times. MG Ramachandran (MGR) said that former Prime Minister M. Karunanidhi could not taste power for 13 years after founding his party in 1972.
DMK could not even secure the Leader of Opposition (LOP) position in the Assembly three times in the past. All this did not make him unimportant. However, despite the absence of two “supreme personalities” (MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa), the AIADMK [in 2021] Apart from its front gaining 75 seats, the LOP managed to maintain its position.
“This was no ordinary performance as the party experienced the confusion that arose after Jayalalithaa’s death. On the contrary, in 1991 the DMK could win only two seats,” Mr. Semmalai recalled.
Asked whether the apparent support among youth for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) led by actor-politician Vijay was a reflection of the failure of the two Dravidian majors to attract the new and younger generation, Mr. Semmalai called TVK an “untested force” and said not all Mr. Vijay’s fans would be workers of the new party. “So you can’t predict the strength of the party by taking into account the supporters.”
Asked whether the TVK founder followed the example of MGR, who was also a matinee idol, the former Minister said MGR showed the strength of the party by winning the 1973 Dindigul Lok Sabha and 1974 Coimbatore (West) Assembly by-elections after founding the party in 1972. Mr. Semmalai recalled that the AIADMK not only emerged as the largest party in Puducherry in 1974 but also formed the government.
It was published – 22 March 2026 12:39 IST
