It's raining laptops in Tamil Nadu

First it was the free colour television scheme that had helped the DMK win the elections in 2006. Now, two years ahead of the assembly polls, the state government is wooing students with free laptops.

Vanavi is among the top thousand rank holders to be gifted a laptop by the state government. Most of the beneficiaries also happen to be from poor rural backgrounds. The scheme has cost the state over Rs three crore.

Just last week on the 86th birthday of Karunanidhi, the Chennai Corporation had launched a free gold ring scheme for newborn children who are given Tamil names in Corporation hospitals.

The DMK's free colour television scheme has been a huge success and was instrumental in the party's victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Critics say the free laptop scheme is to woo voters ahead of the 2011 assembly polls. However, the government denies it's a populist measure.

"No, there is no politics in this. We want to develop a student community that is so familiar with technology," said School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

With many of the DMK's former allies still with Jayalalithaa, so much is at stake for the party and in the run up to the polls there could be more freebies for voters.