On March 20, the DMK had released its manifesto promising chief ministers a say in the appointment of governors
Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) released its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — drawing parallels with the one launched by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam two days back — on Friday, promising that they will urge the Centre to consult state governments in the appointment of governors among other things.
“This was one of the demands of late J Jayalalithaa,” the manifesto said. “The AIADMK will strive to achieve this goal of a mechanism for appointment of governors.” It came a day after the Supreme Court reprimanded Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi for refusing to appoint DMK’s K Ponmudi as minister and the former invited the latter on Wednesday and administered the oath of office in the cabinet led by chief minister M K Stalin.
On March 20, the DMK had released its manifesto promising chief ministers a say in the appointment of governors and restricting the latter’s powers — an unprecedented promise by any party in India’s history.
Having walked away from the BJP alliance last September, the AIADMK-led by Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) was unrestricted in going against the Centre. The Dravidian major proposed “strengthening” the Centre-state relationship and federal structure. They also opposed the renaming of India’s three criminal laws in Hindi. To hold the winter session of Indian Parliament in Chennai, is among their promises, in the 54-page manifesto. They sought to establish a bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai and to make Tamil as the official language of the Madras high court.
In a three-cornered contest the AIADMK will be fighting the DMK and the BJP for the 39 Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and a lone seat in Puducherry. The AIADMK and BJP came together ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls stitching together a rainbow alliance that could win only one seat under the Dravidian party with the DMK coalition sweeping 38 seats. Most of the allies have jumped ship to the BJP, leading the AIADMK with late Vijayakanth’s DMDK. Expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam has joined the BJP but announced that he will contest on his own in an independent symbol from Ramanathapuram parliamentary seat. Another expelled AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran will contest on his party’s pressure cooker symbol in two seats in the BJP alliance.
The AIADMK has demanded better funding from the next Union government and promised schemes such as ₹3,000 for women heads of poor households. Dual citizenship for ethnic Tamils from Sri Lanka and abolishing of toll charges at all National Highways, are other promises. The party also promised retrieval of Katchatheevu, a tiny island sandwiched between India and Sri Lanka. On interstate water disputes between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, AIADMK pledged that they will ensure that the Mekedatu dam project proposed by the Karnataka government is not implemented.
