Tamil Nadu polls: AIADMK copied our manifesto, claims Karunanidhi

Chennai: DMK President M Karunanidhi on Tuesday alleged that the recently-released AIADMK poll manifesto was a “copied” one, and that the freebies offered by the party was an attempt at “fooling” people. About the delay in the release of the AIADMK manifesto, the DMK patriarch said he would have been surprised if it had come after the polls. [caption id=“attachment_2704204” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file photo of Karunanidhi. PTI[/caption] “I would have been surprised if it had come after polls. We released our manifesto soon after elections were announced, but there was a big delay (in AIADMK releasing its manifesto),” he told reporters here. “It came last (among political parties), and is a copied one,” he said, without elaborating. Responding to a question on freebies being offered in the AIADMK manifesto, he alleged that sops such as free mobile phones and free 100 units of electricity were not being assured with a genuine intention. It was an attempt at “fooling people,” he said, indicating that freebies were no more relevant. DMK, which had offered free colour TVs in the 2006 assembly polls which it won, has promised free 3G/4G connection in its poll manifesto for the 16 May assembly polls.