AIADMK Manifesto: EPS promises Rs 2000/month for women, Rs 10k aid

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami released the party's election manifesto, promising Rs 2,000 monthly to female heads of households and a special assistance of Rs 10,000 per family to combat rising prices and tax hikes.

Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday released the party's election manifesto, promising Rs 2000 monthly to female heads of households.

AIADMK's Key Manifesto Promises

Palaniswami released a manifesto with 297 promises, including a special assistance of Rs. 10,000 per family to combat tax burdens and rising prices of goods. "Under the administratively incompetent Stalin-led DMK regime--characterised by its lack of vision--the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed over the past five years. Consequently, the public has been severely affected. Furthermore, various taxes--including property tax, house tax, electricity tariffs, and water charges--have been hiked. As a result, the daily financial burden on households has increased manifold. Therefore, with the aim of alleviating this burden on the people, a special assistance sum of Rs. 10,000 will be provided to every family," the manifesto read.

'Kula Vilakku Scheme' for Women

EPS promised the 'Kula Vilakku Scheme' for women, and the manifesto said, "To foster economic equilibrium within society, a monthly assistance allowance of Rs 2,000 will be provided to all ration cardholders through the 'Kula Vilakku Scheme.' This amount will be deposited directly into the bank account of the female head of the household."

Other Welfare Promises

AIADMK has also promised that the ration card holders will receive lentils along with rice, and will also receive refrigerators. The party has promised to extend the free bus travel scheme to men, in addition to women. Three free cooking gas cylinders per year for every ration cardholder, the manifesto said.

Tamil Nadu Electoral Landscape

Tamil Nadu will go to the polls in a single phase on April 23, with counting scheduled for May 4.

Under the NDA seat-sharing agreement, the alliance led by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will contest over 170 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been allotted 27 seats, followed by the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) with 18 seats, and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) with 11 seats.

The main electoral contest is expected between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which also includes Congress, DMDK, and the VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by AIADMK with the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) as allies. Actor-turned-politician Vijay is set to make his electoral debut with TVK, attempting to turn the upcoming elections into a three-way contest.

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