 | Karnataka polls: Parties using food aggregators, kids to reach freebies?Candidates in rural areas are planning to use schoolchildren, who are now on summer vacation, for campaigning and distributing cash and freebies to people to vote in their favour. |
 | Karnataka elections: Party leaders mark houses with alphabets to identify freebie beneficiaries"If there is only one woman voter, A is written on the wall and if there are five women voters in the house letter E is written," said a resident of Kampli town. |
 | Get people tested instead of giving freebies, experts suggestThe panellists also appreciated the recently inaugurated Namma Clinics in Karnataka, which provide free consultations to people for basic ailments. |
 | Equal opportunity, not freebies, will save the poorThe minimum wages in every sector need to be reworked to a higher level. This will hurt the middle-class pockets more, but it will stop us from exploiting the destitute. |
 | Politics of freebies enters KarnatakaThe Congress, on its part, has announced 200 units of free power to every household if voted to power in the state. |
 | Gehlot’s Rajasthan poll dice: LPG at Rs 500After a recent decision to give free smartphones to 1.35 crore women, CM Gehlot said that poor families in the state will get domestic cooking gas cylinders for Rs 500 from next year. |
 | AAP’s freebie promise comes under locals’ scrutiny in Gujarat polls“Gujaratis have never run after freebies, everything comes from the tax we pay,” said Bhargav Sohagia, a resident of Varachha and an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector. |
 | Record cash, liquor seized as Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat go for polls: Election CommissionThe poll panel said there has been a five-fold increase in seizures in Himachal Pradesh compared to the 2017 assembly elections. |
 | Gehlot outreach: 1.35 crore women to get smartphonesThe mobiles will be distributed to women heads of the family who are a part of the health scheme called Chiranjeevi Yojna. |
 | Freebies: SC orders earliest listing of pleas before three-judge benchA bench headed by CJI UU Lalit on Tuesday directed for listing the pleas seeking ban on irrational freebies before a three judge bench at the “earliest. |
 | SC orders to post freebies matter before 3-judge bench as early as possibleThe SC had earlier said that there is a need to draw a distinction between welfare schemes and other promises that are made by political parties before elections. |
 | Free services are not ‘revdis’, Delhi Chief Minister retorts to PM jibeAAP, which is contesting forthcoming Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, has promised 24x7 power supply and jobs, among others. |
 | Inflation and the risks of freebie politicsThere is no let up. This week saw consumer price inflation rise higher than expected in the United States derailing theories of peak inflation. In India, too, CPI spiked to 7.41 per cent in September. |
| Have 'zero tolerance' towards distribution of any kind of inducement: Chief Election CommissionerParties have been asked on how will they manage the required finances. The EC plans to tweak the model code by making the proforma part of it. |
 | Freebies: SC refuses to grant urgent listingTurning down Upadhyay’s plea, CJI said, “We’ll make a note. They are not matters which are urgent. Send them to my chambers.” |
 | Election Commission takes first step to curb freebies during electionIn a bid to curb freebies, the Election Commission on Tuesday told political parties to disclose the authentic financial implications of poll promises made to the voters. |
 | SBI warns of freebies time-bomb, urges SC to cap spend at one per cent of state GDPThe report suggests that the apex court panel fix a band, say 1 per cent of GSDP or 1 per cent of state own tax collections or 1 per cent of state revenue expenditure for these welfare schemes. |
 | Samples given to doctors are not freebies: Pharma companies in Karnataka HCThe free sample of medicines given to the medical practitioners is only to prove the efficacy and to establish the trust of the doctors on the quality of the drugs, the petition claimed. |
 | Access to all is key measure of successTN’s success in the midday meal scheme adopted nationally is well-known and its approach towards welfare has become central both to its development as well as the political debate on ‘freebies’. |
 | Fiscal federalism and hullabaloo around freebiesHow can the Centre justify its tax concessions to the rich while running a continuous revenue deficit? |
