Social welfare, expensive transport projects and debt featured in the BJP’s manifesto for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections scheduled for April 23, which was released on Monday by Union Health Minister and former national president of the party JP Nadda. Track election updates here
The statement promises monthly assistance $2000 for all women heads of households and a one-time amount $10,000 per house. The BJP’s ally in the state, the AIADMK, the main partner of the National Democratic Alliance in Tamil Nadu, made a similar promise in its March 24 manifesto. BJP state president Nainar Nagendra and former state president K. Annamalai were also present while issuing the statement.
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Nadda also announced that the party will declare Thaipusam as the state festival to honor Lord Murugan and will ensure that the tradition of lighting the Karthigai Deepam on the top of Thiruparankandram hill is resumed and protected over the years. The party sought to be at the forefront of the legal and social movement over the lighting of this lamp, claiming that it had been moved many years ago to a different location within the temple complex to avoid insulting the feelings of worshipers at a nearby Islamic shrine.
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In its manifesto, the BJP also promised to reform Tamil Nadu’s railway network by enabling land acquisition at fair prices and expanding connectivity through projects like high-speed rail corridors (Chennai-Bengaluru, Chennai-Hyderabad), Coimbatore-Tiruppur Salem RRTS, Villupuram-Chennai semi-urban railway, hydropower train project and new Slipper Vande Bharat trains connecting Chennai with Delhi and Mumbai. And Calcutta.
The party also promised special speedy courts, protection for victims and witnesses of crimes against women and better use of the Nirbhaya Fund. The BJP said it will empower women-led cooperatives, self-help groups and small and medium enterprises with interest-free loans of up to… $50 lakh for manufacturing units and 20% government procurement share.
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At the launch, Nadda accused the ruling DMK of turning Tamil Nadu into a “crime capital” and said it was the “party of dynasties, money and kickbacks”.
“Tamil Nadu is the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations in the world and we are proud of that. But if you talk about the DMK and its allies, the cultural capital has now turned into a crime capital. The pulse of the people is that there is a lot of resentment against the DMK, dynastic politics, crime and corruption. And in these elections, we will see that people will expose this unholy alliance,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is competing for 27 seats in the 234-member assembly.
