Chennai, Apr 21:
After having released its detailed manifesto for the April 23 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections that was packed with freebies, the main Opposition AIADMK on Tuesday announced 10 more new promises, including Rs 10,000 subsidy for 10 lakh working youth to purchase two-wheelers, steps to fix MSP for mango farmers, enhancing compensation for construction workers and palmyra farmers, reduction in Government Cable TV charges, among others things.
The fresh promises were made barely a couple of hours before the high octane campaigning came to a close.
Facing its biggest and toughest test in 53 years in its political history having lost all the ten elections in succession since 2019, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is heading the NDA in Tamil Nadu and is also the CM face of the Front, in a statement here said once the AIADMK government was formed after the polls, necessary steps would be taken to to fix MSP for mango farmers, who suffered various hardships recently in not getting due remunerative price for their produce.
But the key announcement was Rs 10,000 subsidy for youths for purchase of new two-wheelers to enable them to travel to their work place. This was seen as an extension of the already announced promise of Rs 25,000 subsidy for five lakh women to help them purchase two-wheelers, which was aimed at women voters, who play a key and decisive role in electoral outcomes.
He also announced issuance of a GO to celebrate the traditional “Athukattu” festival in Soolagiri, Hosur, Denkanikottai and Thali areas in Krishnagiri district of the state.
The Athukattu festival is a rare, traditional, and visually stunning bull-taming event, similar to Manjuvirattu or Jallikattu, held during the Pongal season in villages near Hosur. Major festivities occur around mid-January, featuring hundreds of decorated native bulls, thousands of participants, and large crowds.
Palaniswami also promised Rs 25 lakh and Rs 20 lakh compensation to construction workers and palmyra if they unfortunately lost their lives while engaged in construction and while climbing the palmyra tree.
Apart from reducing by 50 per cent, the Cable TV charges of the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation, he also announced provision of free handmade equuipment for breaking cashews taking into account the livelihood of women who were working in cashew industry in Cuddalore and Villupuram districts, besides setting up a 24×7 War Room in all district headquarters to prevent crimes against women, setting up of special counselling centres to prepare young boys and girl students for jobs and competittive exams after they pass out of their schools.
Issuance of license in 30 days through Single Window System for young men and women to start their own MSME enterprises by increasing the subsidy from 25 per cent to 35 per cent, was also among the announcements made by Mr Palaniswami on the last day of campaigning.
After making key poll promises in three phases initially, the AIADMK had already released its detailed and full-fledged election manifesto containing 297 announcements, including Rs 2,000 per month and women households, one time payment of Rs 10,000 each to ease the inflatory burden of families, extension of free travel in government city buses for men (already the scheme is in force after the DMK announced free travel for women), and other key promises targetting all sections of the society.
And in line with it, it topped the 297 promises with ten more promises in what could be seen as a last ditch effort to attract the voters, as the campaigning drew to a close, setting the stage for a high intensity show down in a four-cornered contest which also featured the strong muti-party ruling DMK-led Front, the TVK of actor-politician Vijay, whose party is testing its electoral fortunes for the first time and the NTK of another actor-director Seeman.