There is no bar on populism in Tamil Nadu. Beyond the poignant tales of convicts coming out of prisons, the latest largesse by the DMK Government is bound to get into legal tangle, unlike earlier sops that were criticised by opposition parties.

The occasion was the birth anniversary of C N Annadurai, the leader who gave a political face to the Dravidian ideology. Every party here, barring the Congress — which was defeated by Anna’s DMK for the first time in the state in 1967 and is yet to recapture its glory ever since — pledges by his political legacy, and are always eager to outdo each other in celebrating his birthday.

Straddling power at Fort St George, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had an edge over others and made use of this promptly. After all, this was Anna’s birth centenary, a platform set for populist announcements.

First was provision of rice at Re 1 a kg for the poor that was greeted with mixed response. There were criticisms about the viability of the scheme which would add to the exchequer’s burden. There were also warnings about the rice being diverted to the open market and neighbouring states. However, there were not many political parties to raise these concerns; rice has been a touchy issue here since Annadurai himself attempted to provide it at highly subsidised rates.

There were other smaller initiatives like commemorative coins (by DMK’s A Raja, the Communications Minister), and photo exhibitions.

Rival parties that were left behind in this race, however, got a stick from Karunanidhi to beat the Government with when it ordered the release of 1,405 convicts, who had completed seven years of jail term not including remission period from the various prisons across the state.

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