NEW DELHI: Levelling a serious charge ahead of the April 6 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, DMK president MK Stalin on Thursday accused the AIADMK of copying its poll manifesto. He also alleged that the ruling party did not fulfil its promises made in its manifestos of the previous elections.
“A manifesto has been released on the ruling party’s behalf which is a copy of DMK’s manifesto,” Stalin said.
Both the AIADMK and the DMK have made a common promise of giving financial assistance of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 per month to women family heads. This is just one of the common promises contained in the manifestos of both the parties.
While Stalin accused the AIADMK of “copying” its assurance, the ruling party said its proposed electoral promises were “leaked”.
Stalin further said the AIADMK’s promises made ahead of 2011 and 2016 assembly polls have not been kept.
The AIADMK has now given a slew of assurances and people knew which of those could be honoured and several of its promises cannot be fulfilled, Stalin said in his campaign at Gummidipoondi near Chennai.
Stalin said chief minister K Palaniswami‘s announcement of farm loan waiver is only to hoodwink the people and only “Rs 5,000 crore has been waived as against the promise of Rs 14,000 crore”.
A sum of Rs 5,000 crore was allocated towards the Rs 12,110.74 crore crop loan waiver scheme in the interim budget for 2021-22.
He said promises made during previous elections, including providing mobile phones, building 10 lakh houses and bringing down cable television tariff to Rs 70 were not implemented.
“They said Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Coimbatore would get Monorail. It remains only on paper,” he said and also faulted the AIADMK government for allowing the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test in the state.
While the AIADMK did not meet its promises, the DMK followed the dictum of late party patriarch ‘Kalaignar’ (M Karunanidhi) of assuring only things that could be honoured and honouring the commitments made, he said.
Stalin underscored his party’s assurances like Rs 1,000 “rights” assistance per month to women family heads, fare-free travel for women in local buses, waiver of farm loans in cooperative banks and increasing job quota for women to 40 per cent from 30 per cent in state services.
(With agency inputs)