CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced the second phase of its election assurances on Wednesday, with a significant focus on initiatives for minority communities and students.
The new set of promises also includes increasing the old-age pension to Rs 2,000 per month, providing three LPG cylinders per year at subsidised rates to rice ration card holders, granting Rs 10 lakh in financial aid to families of individuals who die during jallikattu events, and Rs2 lakh to those injured.
Outlining the promises at the party headquarters, Palaniswami stated that if elected to power, his government would waive the existing education loans of students, provide new loans to Muslim and Christian women to establish micro and small-scale enterprises, and waive cooperative loans for persons with physical disabilities.
These assurances, he confirmed, will be incorporated into the party's forthcoming election manifesto.
Taking aim at Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Palaniswami alleged that its leader Vijay lacked understanding of Tamil Nadu's political landscape and has not engaged sufficiently with the public or the media.
If Vijay admired late AIADMK leaders, MGR and J Jayalalithaa, as he claims, he should stop labeling the party that these leaders founded and nurtured as corrupt, Palaniswami said.
In a clear but indirect rebuttal to Vijay’s claim that the TVK was the sole challenger to the ruling DMK, Palaniswami asserted that the AIADMK-led NDA is the principal opposition alliance in the State and accused Chief Minister MK Stalin of functioning like a "puppet".
Palaniswami reiterated that the AIADMK was leading the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu and that he is its chief ministerial candidate, which, he affirmed, was noted clearly by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
He also dismissed any possibility of re-inducting former leader VK Sasikala into the party fold.