A never-seen-before election campaign is going on in Tirunelveli district for the Diocesan Elections. The voters there are being lured with lucrative promises that each household would be given a two-wheeler, silk sarees and dhotis and sewing machines. There have also been announcements including the offering of mutton biryani once a month.
The election to elect members to the General Assembly from the towns under the Tirunelveli Diocese of the South Indian Church is to be held on the 7th February. Out of the 115 towns in the Tirunelveli constituency, 140 members are to be elected for the diocese. The winning members in the Tirunelveli Diocese are usually elected as the Secretary, Secretary of the Education Status Committee, Treasurer amongst others. The council controls 500 churches, 120 DDTA schools, 10 colleges, an engineering college and a teacher training school.
The two parties that are contesting in this election are Vedanayagam’s party and DS Jayasingh’s party. Apart from them, two independent candidates for the Sivanthipatti assembly constituency in Konkanthanpaarai have made promises to impress voters in a way that will win them the diocese elections.
They have announced that they will provide a free Honda Activa vehicle to all the families in the Konkanthanpaarai if they win. It has also been announced that mutton biryani will be provided on the first Sunday of every month and all voters between the ages of 18 and 120 will be given two silk sarees free of cost for the festive days of Christmas and New Year. They had also promised to provide two silk dhotis and shirts to men and a free sewing machine for women to start self-employment.
This brings into question their source of income for granting the freebies, as well as the means of funding that they will be receiving in order to do so.
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