On Friday morning, when the entire political landscape in Tamil Nadu was gearing up to watch actor-politician Vijay’s rally at Salem, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin bowled an early-morning googly, making his political opponents and newcomer Vijay run to counterattack.
Two months ahead of the assembly general elections, the M.K.Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu credited Rs 5,000 to the bank accounts of 1.31 crore women beneficiaries of the Rs 1,000 monthly cash assistance scheme. Within hours, his party workers shared screenshots of the money transfer with the hashtag, '#DravidianModel2.0'.
Calling the transfer both economic and symbolic, he said that this scheme had helped the women meet many essential expenses.
“With this amount, women themselves have been able to meet many essential expenses—daily household expenses, medical expenses arising within the family, educational expenses for children.”
Launched in September 2023, the monthly cash dole of Rs 1,000 was the DMK’s poll promise in the 2021 election. While there were several debates on the sustainability of the scheme, the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai covers 1.31 crore women in the state.
The scheme, which was initially started with 1.13 crore women heads of families, was later expanded to cover 1.31 crore women beneficiaries.
The scheme was launched with a note saying: “Stalin gives righteous money to the women who invest time and effort in unpaid but productive work.”
As of now, the scheme covers close to one in four people in the state. When the scheme was launched, Stalin called it “rights assistance”, recognising the contribution made by women to society.
Electoral impact
Stating that there were efforts by Delhi and their friends in Tamil Nadu to halt the scheme for three months by hiding behind elections, he said his Dravidian-model government had thwarted all their designs.
"The money covers your entitlements for February, March and April, including Rs 3,000 regular assistance in advance and Rs 2,000 as an additional summer component,” Stalin had said in a video message.
He added that if the DMK returned to power, the money would be raised to Rs 2,000 per month.
“In the next Dravidian Model 2.0 government, your righteous assistance will be increased to Rs 2,000. This is the promise given by Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, who does what he says.”
The morning video message and the money credit to the bank accounts of 1.31 crore women is a masterstroke by the Stalin government to catch the women voters in the upcoming election.
The total number of voters in Tamil Nadu stands at 5.43 crore after the draft SIR rolls were published in December 2025. This comprises 2.66 crore women and 2.77 crore men voters.
While the final rolls are yet to be published with more additions, the total number of voters is likely to touch six crores. Of this, the total number of women voters is expected to touch 2.80 crore.
With the DMK covering 1.31 crore women out of the existing 2.66 crore women voters in the state, the party believes that this could turn into votes. According to the DMK party insiders and senior leaders, the bank transfer of the monthly assistance is likely to yield a “very positive result” in the upcoming election and help mobilise at least 40 per cent of women in the age group of 30-70 who receive the monthly cash assistance.
The transfer also attracts more rural women voters, who consider the monthly assistance as a source of income to fund a few of their monthly expenses.
Party insiders also believe that the early transfer and the Rs 2,000 bonus will bring down anti-incumbency against the government in certain pockets of the state as it covers 1.31 crore families.
“The vast reach of the scheme touches 1.31 crore families as a whole. It is a huge burden on the exchequer. But we can ensure that the women do not drift towards our opponents or even towards the newly floated parties,” a senior minister told THE WEEK.
He calls it a “strategy” and a “masterstroke” by his leader.
“Our opponents cannot call it political opportunism at this point of time. If they frame it as electoral or political opportunism the women voters will definitely be offended,” the minister pointed out.
On the other hand, the money transfer move also has a strong precedent from the BJP-ruled states. Interestingly, neither the BJP nor its ally AIADMK, can criticise the DMK, as the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra and also the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar had launched similar schemes just ahead of the elections in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
Ahead of the 2024 Assembly elections, the Eknath Shinde government launched the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, providing Rs 1,500 monthly to over 10 million eligible women, spending a total of Rs 46,000 crores. In 2025, Nitish Kumar in Bihar spent Rs 7,500 crore to roll out the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana. Through the scheme he transfers Rs 10,000 each to 75 lakh women.
Why now?
Though the monthly assistance to women is usually credited to their bank accounts on every 15th, this time, the Stalin-led DMK has chosen February 13 to make sure that the party caught women voters before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) could set in. And Stalin, in his message, had also indicated the legal efforts to halt the monthly cash disbursements for women.
According to DMK sources, a pending matter before the Supreme Court concerning election freebies is all set to come up for hearing before the five state elections.
A PIL filed by a BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay seeks regulation of pre-poll promises and cash transfers to the beneficiaries from the government treasury. Upadhyay submitted before the court that the cash doles and large-scale welfare scheme assurances distorted the level playing field during election. He also argued in the court that the announcements and assurances of freebies amounted to corrupt practices under the Representation of Peoples Act.
Hearing the case, the Supreme Court too has described the issue as one of the paramount public importance. It had indicated that it required consideration by a three-judge bench. A detailed hearing of the PIL is scheduled in March, just ahead of the election.
The court observed during the hearing that “there is a difficulty in distinguishing between legitimate welfare measures and inducements aimed at influencing voters".
With these legal hurdles hanging above the head as a Damocles sword, the Stalin-led DMK government had made the single disbursement to ensure that it would not suffer any legal or administrative interruption in the run-up to the election.