Seeman to contest poll; NTK to name candidates for 234 constituencies

Trichy: Chief coordinator of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), Seeman, on Wednesday said that he would be contesting the upcoming assembly election, and the constituency he would be contesting would be revealed during the party's state-level conference in Trichy on Feb 21. He added that he would introduce his party's candidates for all 234 assembly constituencies during the conference.NTK's conference, titled ‘Conference of the People Wanting for Change' (Maatrathai Virumbum Makkalin Maanadu), will host all 234 candidates on the dais. Subsequently, they will formally launch election work, meeting the voters in their constituencies ahead of the announcement of the assembly election date in the state. Seeman said that, unlike other political parties, NTK will not release any election manifesto. He added that the party's draft action plans will be released during the conference in both print and video formats. Candidates will campaign based on the NTK's action plan videos to explain to the people the change NTK strives for, especially in the education and health sectors for the next generation of Tamils. "The only resolution of the conference is to bring our good governance of change for the welfare of common people. I am the commander of the army (NTK), so I will contest," Seeman said. Responding to the state's interim budget, Seeman said that his party loathes the budget and dislikes the trend of increasing debts. "The state's debt burden continues to soar, now beyond 10.1 lakh crore. What did we achieve with these debts? Why is the govt not fulfilling the demands of protesting teachers and farmers?" Seeman questioned. Responding to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's statement suggesting Stalin as the candidate to consolidate the INDIA bloc, Seeman said that the senior Congress leader is aware that Stalin is the strong partner and, if he leaves, the INDIA alliance will further weaken.