We’ve heard these promises before: land for the landless, subsidised rice supply, subsistence allowances for the unemployed, pay-outs for pregnant women, free electricity... None of that raises an eyebrow, for these are the things that we have come to expect politicians to promise at election time. But a free colour TV set to every family?! On top of which, also a free cooking gas stove?

When the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) included all these in its election manifesto last week, in the run-up to the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, the TV set and gas stove hit the headlines - as they were guaranteed to do. And the rival AIADMK’s Jayalalithaa quickly damned the offers as unaffordable.