The reckless spending of taxpayers’ money on freebies is a blatant financial irregularity that amounts to bribing voters using public money, solely to gain electoral advantage. The individual candidate distributing cash or liquor to garner votes is treated as a corrupt practice, and rightly so, but a party bribing voters, that too using public money, gets legitimacy. That it is for Central government to take the initiative to enact a law on curbing freebies. Freebies being at the foundation on which victory is secured, the parties concerned are prone to promising them election after election. The freebies culture is changing the mindset of people, making them complacent towards work. The freebies are a recipe for financial bankruptcy of the States and economic disaster. The only way to avoid it is to prohibit parties from making such promises.
