Promises of freebies always add a feel-good factor to election campaigning and the just concluded assembly elections in Assam, Keralam, Puducherry, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were no different. Cash transfers to women beneficiaries are now an almost new normal in state polls. In the just concluded assembly elections, political parties went all out to also promise much more. This includes free gold coins to brides and six free LPG cylinders per year by Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu, higher pensions and interest free loans to young entrepreneurs by the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress in Kerala and implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission and financial aid to unemployed youth by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal.