Ruling party forms 7-member panel for preparing poll manifesto

The committee comprises senior leaders C Ponnaiyyan, Natham R Viswanathan, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, Law Minister CVe Shanmugam, MLA S Semmalai, former MLA PH Manoj Pandiyan and former Rajya Sabha MP AW Rabi Bernard. Nearly 70 per cent of the manifesto works are over and the manifesto will be released next month by party leaders O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami, AIADMK sources said. The party will also hear the aspiring candidates in a fortnight and the seat sharing talks will commence only after the announcement of polls by the Election Commission. Party convenor OPS and joint convenor EPS had also urged the district secretaries to focus on booth committees coming up in the 21 vacant Assembly seats.

 “The alliance talks with political parties are yet to begin, but the poll works for the Lok Sabha has already started,” AIADMK leader Thambidurai told reporters. When asked whether the AIADMK will ally with the BJP, Thambidurai replied in the negative stating that the BJP had misused the central agencies to raid the residences of AIADMK functionaries and ministers in the past. “With or without allies we will win all the 40 Lok Sabha seats,” Thambidurai said.