Chennai, March 24 AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami announced on Tuesday that his party would provide free refrigerators to all ration cardholders if it were voted to power in the 2026 Assembly election.
He also promised to provide one kilogram of dal and one liter of cooking oil free to rice ration cardholders in Tamil Nadu, as well as a one-time grant of Rs 10,000 to every family to help manage tax burdens and rising prices.
There are nearly 2.22 crore rice ration cardholders in the state who receive free rice and subsidized prices on commodities such as sugar, toor dal, and palmolein oil every month through the public distribution system, which covers 34,773 fair price shops across Tamil Nadu.
The rice ration card is used as an eligibility criterion by the state government for several of its welfare schemes.
Palaniswami's announcements align with those of the party leader and late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who had announced a populist scheme to provide free fans, mixers, and grinders as part of the AIADMK election manifesto ahead of the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
After coming to power, she launched the distribution of these freebies on September 15, 2011, coinciding with the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister C N Annadurai.
During the AIADMK state headquarters launch of the party's manifesto for the April 23 election, Palaniswami said, "The free refrigerator is intended to reduce the workload for homemakers."
The party has already promised three free LPG cylinders per year to eligible households, and Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for families in the event of death during the Jallikattu sport, among numerous other promises in the AIADMK manifesto.
He had also announced a series of welfare measures for women, such as a monthly aid of Rs 2,000, 5 lakh subsidized 2-wheelers for working women, waiver of education loans obtained from banks, increased social security pensions for the elderly and others to Rs 2,000, free bus travel for men, similar to women, an increase in the rural employment scheme to 150 days, and a one-time grant of Rs 10,000 to every family to manage tax burdens and rising prices.
Palaniswami criticized the DMK regime over alleged "commission, collection, and corruption" while releasing the party's manifesto.
It may be recalled that in 2006, DMK president M Karunanidhi had announced free color television sets for poor households as part of the DMK election manifesto. After coming to power, he launched the scheme on Annadurai's birth anniversary.
Nearly 297 promises are included in the AIADMK manifesto, and the last one is "compassionate appointments to the family members of martyred and disabled soldiers in the military."
"The people of Tamil Nadu have been severely affected during the past five years of the DMK's rule, under the dictatorship of the inefficient Chief Minister Mr M K Stalin, who made various false promises knowing that it was difficult to implement, and deceived the people and came to power," the manifesto, released in both English and Tamil, stated.
During the DMK regime, various tax hikes, such as electricity charges, property tax, drinking water tax, sewage tax, professional tax, and garbage tax, were implemented, along with rising prices of essential commodities and construction materials.
"Bribery and corruption have proliferated across all departments, leaving people in despair. Law and order has completely deteriorated; murders, robberies, sexual crimes against women, and the trafficking of drugs have increased, leaving Tamil Nadu completely ruined," it said.
Though the government's revenue multiplied manifold over the past five years, the "incompetence of the administratively inefficient" DMK government borrowed over Rs 5 lakh crores in 5 years. "The DMK government has imposed a debt of approximately Rs 1,25,000 on the head of every single person in Tamil Nadu," it said.
"To end the rule of corruption, commission, and collection, to prevent crimes against women, to end the advertisement-based government, to put an end to the family and dynastic politics that survives by deceiving and cheating the people of Tamil Nadu, support the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK," it appealed.
Some of the other assurances made in the manifesto include reviewing the demand of government employees and teachers associations regarding the Contributory Pension Scheme and Guaranteed Pension Scheme, and necessary amendments will be made and the pension scheme will be restructured.
Steps will be taken to reduce the prices of construction materials like cement, steel, bricks, sand, M-Sand, gravel, and crushed stone required for the poor and downtrodden to build houses, a separate university for skill development for educated youth, online skill development training for youth, installing rooftop solar panels for solar power generation in houses, and welfare board for food delivery workers, taxi drivers, and online service workers were among the assurances.
Addressing a query regarding funding for freebies promised in the manifesto, Palaniswami defended the party's fiscal management record. "During the COVID-19 enforced lockdown, when there was no revenue, even at that time, the AIADMK-led government delivered excellent governance," he said.
"When we return to power, we will focus on expanding the financial base through appropriate channels to fulfill promises," he said.