Tamil Nadu assembly elections: AIADMK releases manifesto, Palaniswami rolls out 297 promises

NEW DELHI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday released the party’s Tamil Nadu Assembly election manifesto, unveiling 297 promises ahead of the April 23 polls.The manifesto put welfare measures at the centre of the party’s campaign, including a monthly assistance of Rs 2,000 for female heads of households and a special assistance of Rs 10,000 for every family. EPS also promised the 'Kula Vilakku Scheme' for women. Under the scheme, the monthly assistance will be given to all ration cardholders and deposited directly into the bank account of the female head of the household."To foster economic equilibrium within society, a monthly assistance allowance of Rs 2,000 will be provided to all ration cardholders through the 'Kula Vilakku Scheme.' This amount will be deposited directly into the bank account of the female head of the household."The manifesto said the Rs 10,000 special assistance was meant to help families cope with rising prices and higher taxes."Under the administratively incompetent Stalin-led DMK regime--characterised by its lack of vision--the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed over the past five years. Consequently, the public has been severely affected. Furthermore, various taxes--including property tax, house tax, electricity tariffs, and water charges--have been hiked. As a result, the daily financial burden on households has increased manifold. Therefore, with the aim of alleviating this burden on the people, a special assistance sum of Rs. 10,000 will be provided to every family," the manifesto read.Among other promises, the party said ration card holders would receive lentils along with rice and refrigerators. It also promised to extend the free bus travel scheme to men in addition to women and provide three free cooking gas cylinders a year to every ration cardholder.Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4.Under the NDA seat-sharing agreement, the AIADMK-led alliance will contest more than 170 seats. The BJP has been allotted 27 seats, followed by PMK with 18 and AMMK with 11.Meanwhile, the AIADMK is speeding up talks to finalise an alliance with G.K. Vasan’s TMC (M) and other smaller parties before the end of Tuesday.The main contest is expected to be between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes Congress, DMDK and VCK, and the NDA led by AIADMK with the BJP and PMK as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is also set to make his electoral debut with TVK, making the election a likely three-way contest.