In India, politicians swap TVs for votes

SUMATHUVAPURAM, India -- These days, it seems, the huddled masses are yearning to get free televisions.

Declaring color television a basic necessity, an Indian political party promised free sets to the poor and swept to power in May in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. So far, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, or DMK, has handed out 60,000 sets and plans to give away 30,000 more in coming months.

As far as political platforms go, this one clearly has been a winner.

"I will always vote for DMK," said Parimala, a 51-year-old widow who like many in these parts uses only one name.

Peeling onions on the bare floor of her tiny 6-by-4-foot living room, her eyes hardly wavered from the soap opera playing at full volume on the 14-inch box adorned with a purple sticker reading: "Government of Tamil Nadu Color TV 2006."

An electoral stunt for sure, but one that illustrates how populism has emerged as the default position of parties across India's political spectrum as once-dominant ideologies fade.

The Congress Party, which has dominated India for much of post-independence history, is struggling to find a new path since abandoning the socialism espoused by the nation's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Hindu nationalism also is not the force it was just a decade ago.

Many areas have seen politicians offering social programs and other promises to the masses.

But no one has gone as far as Tamil Nadu's DMK. Part of the reason is money: Tamil Nadu is one of India's wealthiest states .

The state's two main political parties -- the DMK and the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam -- face the problem of not being very different from one another. Both push regional Tamil rights and champion the poor.

DMK was voted out in 2001 but came back in last May's elections, and now voters like Parimala are eager for goodies promised.