In a bizarre attempt to woo voters, prominent political parties in Andhra Pradesh reportedly distributed condoms with their party symbols on the packaging.
As the condom packs went viral, several state political parties have called the attempt "publicity madness."
"Will it stop with condoms or will they start distributing Viagra too?" questioned the state ruling party.
However, this is not the first time that political parties have made such bizarre attempts to go viral.
As political parties in India begin their election campaigns, they will now be wooing their voters. Politicians would make hundreds of promises to woo voters.
In 2021, a candidate, Saravanan, who was contesting the election from South Madurai in Tamil Nadu, offered voters a 100-day holiday on the moon, an iPhone, a car, a helicopter, a robot, INR 10 million for young voters, a three-storey house with a swimming pool, if he won the election. Seems a bit much?
Young voter Nidhi Sharma, a 28-year-old teacher from Bangalore, told Sputnik India: "When we hear bizarre promises like helicopters and others, we know that these promises are made just to go viral. But I don't think voters generally vote for such candidates."
"Voters are not children who can be influenced by implausible ideas; let's be honest, such tricks don't work. We know who serious politicians are and they'll never make such silly promises," said Amit Tripathi, a 44-year-old IT professional from Gurugram.
Do These Promises Matter?
Most of the time, prominent political parties make promises based on social welfare schemes, touching on the basic needs of a household that account for the maximum expenditure, such as energy, education, health, transport, labour and food, etc. However, it is mainly independent candidates who have made such eye-catching promises to grab media headlines.
"Candidates can make any promises. If history is anything to go by, politicians make promises in every election, but they have more to do with governance and problems. Definitely not something like giving, bungalows, etc," said senior journalist Sameer Chougaonkar.
"And today, voters are well aware of which promises can be kept and which cannot. In general, voters are not in favour of these... Everybody knows that there are no free lunches," he explained when asked how voters react to such claims by politicians.
In India, political parties and candidates usually release their manifestos before elections, telling people what they will do for them if they win and come to power.
"A manifesto issued by a political party - to get votes, it's not gospel. Nor is it a legally binding document. Besides, very few voters read the full manifesto," Chougnakor said.
"It is only through television or newspapers that voters learn about manifestos. Most voters are not even aware of what political parties promise... People in India vote for a party in national elections, not a manifesto," Chougnakor added.