Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday released the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) manifesto, while the party also announced a list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The manifesto has promised a Rs 1,000 monthly entitlement for women and exemption for the NEET entrance exam for students in Tamil Nadu — a long-standing state demand.
If the INDIA bloc is voted to power, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be repealed, the manifesto promised. Loans of farmers and students will be waived, it also added.
The DMK also promises to remove the new National Education Policy 2020 and to abandon the plans for simultaneous polls and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
The DMK’s manifesto promises several key initiatives: setting petrol, diesel, and LPG cylinder prices at Rs 75, Rs 65, and Rs 500, respectively; removing toll booths on national highways; amending laws to ensure state governments appoint Vice-Chancellors to universities; restoring state status to Jammu and Kashmir and holding democratic elections for its legislature; abandoning the ‘One Nation, One Election’ plan and continuing Lok Sabha seat allocation based on the 1971 census; providing college students with free SIM cards containing one GB of data per month; forming a State Development Council and re-establishing the Planning Commission; establishing a permanent Finance Commission; abolishing penalties for not maintaining minimum bank balances; introducing a 2-year cooling-off period for retired judges and secretaries before joining private companies or political parties; facilitating citizenship for Sri Lankan Tamils in India; implementing a 33% reservation for women in Parliament, legislative assemblies, education, and employment sectors based on social justice; and providing interest-free loans up to Rs. 10 lakhs to women’s self-help groups.
“It is the DMK which makes the manifesto before elections and continues to do what we say, this is what our leaders taught us. As Kanimozhi said we went all over the state and listened to various people. It is not only a DMK manifesto but the people’s manifesto. When the BJP came to power in 2014, they destroyed India. None of the election promises were fulfilled. We have formed the INDIA alliance and we will form our government in 2024. In our manifesto, we have announced special schemes for Tamil Nadu and schemes for every district are given in this manifesto,” said Stalin.
“The manifesto of the DMK is always an important one for us. I thank our leader MK Stalin for allowing me to head the manifesto committee and thank all the committee members. We saw how much this Dravidian model government has done for the people of the state. This election manifesto will help us to take our Dravidian model all over India. I am sure of securing not only 40 seats in Tamil Nadu but a good number of seats in the country too…,” said DMK MP Kanimozhi.
 manifesto, while the party also announced a list of candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.){kind=link}