CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has a rich tradition of election-time freebies - from television sets to blenders to sarees - but this time, leaders are extending the largesse to the humble party worker to begin with. Party cadres who ensure winning votes for candidates stand to win anything from gold chains and rings to refrigerators, motorbikes and even paid foreign trips.Such is the buzz that I-T sleuths swooped down on one such candidate, Kathir Anand, who is debuting in Vellore, and unearthed Rs 10 lakh on Saturday. Kathir is the son of DMK treasurer S Duraimurugan .The trend was kicked off by former Union minister and DMK candidate for Arakkonam, Jagathrakshakan. He promised Rs 1 crore to the in-charge of the assembly segment (there are six in an Lok Sabha constituency) where he polls the highest number of votes. Jagathrakshakan , who runs a string of educational institutions, owns a star hotel and is one of the four billionaire candidates from Tamil Nadu.Duraimurugan said Jagathrakshakan's "incentives" were like awarding a student for scoring top marks and securing the first rank. "The cash price will serve as motivation and encourage healthy competition among party workers. It will serve the purpose and bring victory to the party candidate," he said. The DMK treasurer himself has promised a "cash prize" of Rs 50 lakh to the party worker of the assembly segment which polls the highest number of votes for his son in Vellore.There is a rider, though. The money can be used only for development activities such as construction of party office in the assembly segment. "There was a overwhelming response from party workers to the announcement," Duraimurugan said.There was another kind of response too. On a call from the Vellore district election officer, a team of income tax officials landed up at Kathir's residence in Katpadi on Saturday. They also searched a school and college owned by the family and the farmhouse of a close confidant. Cash amounting to Rs 19 lakh was found in the house. "Since Kathir had declared Rs 9 lakh cash on hand in his affidavit, we seized the excess cash," an official said.Kathir's political rivals are promising cadres election dividends too. New Justice Party founder and AIADMK candidate for Vellore AC Shanmugam is dangling a bullet (motorbike) and fully-funded foreign and domestic tour packages to enterprising party workers.Shanmugam, who contested unsuccessfully on a BJP ticket from the same constituency in 2014, has a long list of gifts for top-performing cadres from each assembly segment - Bullet motorbikes worth more than Rs 1 lakh, and all-paid foreign and "north India" tours."It is a win-win situation for the cadres who work hard and for the candidate who actually tastes victory," said an AIADMK functionary who hurriedly began his campaign in Sathuvachari in Vellore. His target: to ensure Shanmugam gets at least 5,000 votes and he gets a paid holiday.Read this story in Bengali