The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday released the list of candidates for 21 seats for the Lok Sabha elections that will see sitting MPs Kanimozhi and A Raja contesting from Thoothukudi and Nilgiris, respectively. It has allotted the remaining 18 seats to its allies--Congress, Left parties and VCK among others.
The party has fielded Kalanidhi Veeraswamy from North Chennai, Thamizhachi Thangapandian from South Chennai and Dayanidhi Maran from Central Chennai. Of the 21 names the ruling party fielded, 11 were new faces.
The party also released its manifesto for the polls, touching upon issues like the appointment of Governors and the abolition of Article 356. The manifesto promises not to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Educational Policy (NEP) and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state.
During the meeting held in Chennai, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the manifesto was made after taking feedback from the public all over the state. "It is not only a DMK manifesto but the people's manifesto. When the BJP came to power in 2014, they destroyed India. None of the election promises were fulfilled. We have formed the INDIA alliance and we will form our government in 2024. In our manifesto, we have announced special schemes for TN and schemes for every district are given in this manifesto," he added.
Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief MK Stalin says "It is DMK which makes the manifesto before elections and continues to do what we say, this is what our leaders taught us. As Kanimozhi said we went all over the state and listened to various people. It is not only a DMK manifesto but… https://t.co/FgVDorIxDk pic.twitter.com/BlKD2YQrfr
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2024
The manifesto also made myriad other promises, including granting statehood to Puducherry and a ban on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), which the state has been vehemently against. It has also promised the abolition of Article 356 which allowed the Centre to dismiss a state government.
Another interesting mention is regarding the appointment of a governor. It says till the office of governor is abolished, a governor of the State should be appointed in consultation with the CM of the State. It added that Article 361 which provided immunity to governors against criminal proceedings will be abolished. Other key promises include making 'Thirukural' the 'national book', Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils who returned to India, Rs 1000 monthly money for women all over India and LPG will be sold for ₹500, petrol for ₹75 and diesel for ₹65.
According to the DMK, the manifesto includes national issues as the party was a part of the INDIA bloc. "DMK is a regional party, at the same time we are a part of the INDIA alliance. So, our manifesto expresses the interests of both the State and the nation. When we are advocating for a federal structure, then our manifesto should reflect that and it will address most of the issues of the country," DMK MP T Siva told reporters.
