No CAA, Uniform Civil Code; Chief Minister approves Governor: DMK manifesto

DMK has announced 21 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. MK Stalin also announced DMK’s manifesto

chennai:

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or DMK today announced 21 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin also announced the party manifesto for the elections and lashed out at the BJP, claiming that the party has destroyed India.

“This is not just the DMK’s manifesto but the people’s manifesto. When the BJP came to power in 2014, they destroyed India. All election promises have not been fulfilled. We have formed an Indian alliance and we will form our government in 2024. In our manifesto, we announced special plans for Tamil Nadu and plans for each district are given in this manifesto,” MK Stalin said.

“It was the DMK that issued the manifesto before the elections and continued to do what we said; this is what our leaders taught us. As Kanimozhi said, we went around the state and listened to different people opinions,” MK Stalin added

The DMK, in its election manifesto, lashed out at the Governor’s office, saying a state governor should be appointed in consultation with the state chief minister before abolishing the governor’s office.

The manifesto also said that Article 361, which provides immunity to the governor from criminal prosecution, would be amended. Further, the DMK said Thirukural will be made a “national book” while the National Education Policy and NEET will not be implemented in Tamil Nadu.

The manifesto also said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will not be implemented in the state.

The DMK also announced the first list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which includes 12 new candidates, including Kanimozhi from Thoothukudi.

The party has decided to field Kalanidhi Veerasamy from north Chennai, Tamirachi Tangapandian from south Chennai, Dayanidhi Maran from central Chennai, Sriperumbattu TR Balu from Delhi, Jagatra Chauhan from Arakkonam and Qandeel from Vellore.

Annadurai will compete from Thiruvanamalai, Dharani from Aarani, Selvagapathi from Selam, Prakash from Erode, A Raja from the Nilgiris, Ganapathi Rajkumar from Kovai and Arun Nehru from Perambalur; Mu from Tanjore Rasori; Thanga Tamil Selvam from Theni; Kanimozhi from Thuthukudi; Rani from Tenkasi; and Malaiarasan from Kalakurich.

Eeswarasamy will compete against Pollachi, Ganapathy Rajkumar from Coimbatore and Thangathamizchelvan from Theni.

The DMK is in alliance with the Congress to contest nine seats in Tamil Nadu. Its other allies are VCK, CPM, CPI, which will compete for two seats each. IUML, KMDK, MDMK will contest for one seat each.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the DMK-led alliance won a landslide victory, bagging 38 out of 39 seats. The Congress party, which was also part of the alliance, won 8 out of the 9 seats contested.

Meanwhile, the AIADMK also announced its first list of 16 candidates for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday. The list was released by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Tamil Nadu will go to single-phase polls on April 19. The Election Commission of India issued a notification on Wednesday that the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 19.

The Election Commission of India said in a notification that the deadline for nominations in Bihar is March 28, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra , Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, nomination deadline is March 27, Tamil Nadu, Tripura , Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.

Voting for the Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases across the country from April 19 to June 1. Counting of votes will take place on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)