Tehran- The elections in Iran gave a new picture. A picture to attract voters on government subsidized food and the people went mad to avail of that concession.  There were long queues and the people were happy to have food at the 1/5th prize. This was a matter of their saving food prize at least during the voting campaign.

Mr. Ahmadinejad campaigned through a popular message in which he promised to distribute the nation's wealth for the poor and the needy. He also assured that he would get the price of the commodity reduced considerably.

There are fixed distribution centers for government assistance not only in a crowded basement in southern Tehran but in many other parts of the country but that concessin is nominal.

Mr. Ahmadinejad took the complete advantage of such provisions and promised to continue and to enhance concessions if he became the next President of Iran and that touched the people and the balance of convenience went in his favor.

Mr.Ahmadinejad further promised to help remove the poverty and uplift those who deserve immediate relief clicked and he got the results.
 
According to New York Times, Michael Slackman writes: "The line ran from the basement up the stairs and out the door. Inside, sugar and rice were selling for about one-fifth of the retail price, a huge savings in a country where according to an opposition economist more than a quarter of the people live below the poverty line - which is defined as a family of five with an income of less than $278 a month.

"I cannot make ends meet," said Hossein Ganji, 49, who works behind a counter in the food distribution center. Mr. Ganji supports his wife and three children on about $150 a month.

"I am the only person that works in my family," he said. "All the others are unemployed." 

Mr. Ahmadinejad, who catapulted to president-elect from near obscurity as the appointed mayor of Tehran, campaigned on a populist message, promising to redistribute the nation's wealth, hold down prices, raise salaries and lift state-supported benefits for the poor.

He infused those pledges with the theme of social justice, which resonated in a society where aiding the poor is considered an obligation for the faithful.

His message came at the right time. In 1997 and again in 2001, voters focused their political will on social and democratic freedoms in electing Mohammad Khatami to the presidency.

But his promised reforms were hardly carried out, and in the election last week voters appeared to have shifted focus to their pocketbooks. One candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of Parliament, just missed making it to the runoff election for president after promising to pay each family the equivalent of $60 a month if elected.

Average salaries run about $200 a month in Iran, with a salary of $300 to $500 considered generous. But costs are fast outstripping the ability to pay - government figures put annual inflation at about 15 percent, though on some products, merchants say prices rise far faster than that.

In a food store in central Tehran, the owner, Reza Karimi, said pomegranate paste had doubled in price to nearly $2; a bottle of olive oil rose to about $4 from $3, and in the last three months a little more than a pound of rice climbed to $1.80 from $1.30.

The price of dairy products sold by a state-owned company jumped 17 percent on Wednesday alone, he said. "The prices will jump again next month," he said. "And when one company raises their prices, they all do."

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