To take or not to take: is the freebie culture in Tamil Nadu elections a threat to Indian democracy?

ABSTRACT The fulcrum of democracy is the electoral process. If the integrity of the electoral process is compromised then the very notion of representation becomes vacuous. In states such as Tamil Nadu in Southern India, distribution of money and promise of freebies has reached alarming levels with elections being countermanded several times. In this scenario, the danger to the system of parliamentary democracy and the Indian republic cannot be gainsaid. Therefore, this article analyses whether the people of India, especially in states like Tamil Nadu, are really concerned about governance or do they cynically participate in the evisceration of democratic electoral and political process, which is the moot point. The answer is complex and nuanced. People are concerned about governance but vote strategically due to systemic malaise. Despite being plied with allurements in the form of cash and other freebies, people, in the final analysis, vote on the basis of the performance of the government.