Every year, ahead of the Tamil month of Aadi (July 15 to August 15), retail stores in Tamil Nadu—selling everything from textiles to jewellers to home appliances—flood the market with “Aadi thallupadi” (discount offers), promising the lowest prices of the year to tempt customers. During this discount season, one can witness hundreds of buyers—all eager to grab the discounted items before they fly off the shelves—lining up before the stores even before they open for business. Come election season, Tamil Nadu’s political parties tempt voters with similar schemes that go by the name of election manifestos, and are crammed with freebies and unviable promises aimed solely at grabbing votes. It is no different this year as the ruling AIADMK and its main challenger, the DMK, vied with one another to roll out a slew of promises—many of them near replicas or slight variations of what the opponent promised.