DMK manifesto proposes Constitutional amendment on Governors and Article 356

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DMK manifesto

Addressing a gathering after the releasing the manifesto, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin said, “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 bloc and we will form our government in 2024. In our manifesto, we have announced special schemes for Tamil Nadu and every district.”

Key promises DMK made in its manifesto:

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Act Rules and Uniform Civil Code will not be implemented
• Tamil Nadu will not implement National Education Policy (NEP) and NEET
• Article 361 which provides immunity from criminal proceedings to Governors will be amended
• Till the office of Governor is abolished, a Governor to the State should be appointed in consultation with the CM of the State
• Assurance of full statehood to Puducherry
• LPG will be sold for ₹500, petrol for ₹75 and diesel for ₹65 per litre
• State status will be restored to the bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir and democratic elections will be conducted for the state legislature immediately.

Linguistic rights, federalism in DMK manifesto

DMK promised to conduct written and oral exams in Tamil and other respective official state languages for all Union government jobs and exams.

The manifesto says, ‘One Nation, One Election’ plan will be abandoned, and the current practice based on the 1971 census for the allocation of Lok Sabha seats will continue.

Re-establishing the Planning Commission to draft plans based on the requests of state governments, replacing the current NITI Aayog, establishing a permanent Finance Commission found mention.

DMK promised the formation of State Development Council including Chief Ministers. 33 percent reservation for women in parliament and assembly was among the promises.

Promises for women, students, farmers 

• Interest-free loans up to ₹10 lakhs will be provided to women’s self-help groups.
• College students will receive a free SIM card with one GB data per month
• Waiver of loans and interests for farmers in nationalised and scheduled banks.
• Waiver of educational loans for students.
• Repeal of POTA law
• The penalty for not maintaining a minimum balance in bank accounts will be abolished.
• A mandatory cooling-off period of 2 years will be introduced for retired judges and secretaries before joining private companies or political parties.
• Modernization of the Indian Postal Department, introducing multi-purpose “Project Arrow” in 15,000 post offices
• A separate financial statement will be filed for the Railway Department.
• Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamils who returned to India.
• ₹1000 monthly entitlement for all women in every state if the party comes to power again in the state.
• Removal of toll gates on national highway.

The DMK recently finalised its Lok Sabha seat-sharing agreement with the Congress, assigning nine seats to the party in Tamil Nadu and one seat in Puducherry.