CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday announced the second phase of the party’s election assurances, focusing strongly on welfare measures for minority communities, students and vulnerable sections.
The promises include increasing the old-age pension to Rs 2,000 per month, providing three LPG cylinders annually at subsidised rates to rice ration card holders, offering Rs 10 lakh as compensation to families of those who die during jallikattu events, and Rs 2 lakh to those injured during the sport.
Releasing the assurances at the party headquarters, Palaniswami said that if voted to power, the AIADMK government would waive existing education loans of students, extend fresh interest-free loans to Muslim and Christian women to start micro and small enterprises, and waive cooperative loans taken by persons with disabilities. He added that all assurances would be part of the party’s upcoming election manifesto.
Targeting Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Palaniswami alleged that its leader Vijay lacked an understanding of Tamil Nadu’s political landscape and had not engaged sufficiently with the people or the media. If Vijay admired former AIADMK leaders MGR and J Jayalalithaa, as he claimed, he should refrain from branding the party they built as corrupt, he said.
In an indirect rebuttal to Vijay’s assertion that TVK was the principal challenger to the ruling DMK, Palaniswami maintained that the AIADMK-led NDA remained the State’s main opposition alliance. He also accused Chief Minister MK Stalin of functioning like a “puppet”.
Reiterating the party’s alliance position, Palaniswami said the AIADMK was leading the NDA in Tamil Nadu and asserted that he remained the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate. He added that this position had been clearly acknowledged by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Palaniswami also ruled out the possibility of re-inducting former leader VK Sasikala into the party, signalling the leadership’s intent to consolidate organisational stability ahead of the elections.
Rs 2,000 old-age pension
3 subsidised LPG cylinders yearly
Waiver of education loans
Interest-free loans for minority women entrepreneurs
Cooperative loans waiver for PwDs
Rs 10 lakh jallikattu death compensation
Rs 2 lakh injury compensation