That the EC, in spite of wholesale transfers and flooding the constituency with observers, flying squads and surveillance teams, could not choke the cash flow proved that the political system was too well-oiled to come to a halt. “The observers entered the field only by 9 am, but by then the cash had been distributed either during the night or along with the morning milk packets or newspapers,” points out an AIADMK functionary managing one of the segments. “Mobile recharges, medicines for the family, film tickets for the latest movie and even groceries for two weeks reached the voters when they needed them and the EC observers remained clueless about such goodies.”