DMK leaders hold the party’s manifesto in Chennai on Tuesday. Agence France-Presse

Nirmala Joseph

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s ruling ADMK as well as opposition DMK on Tuesday released their election manifestos. The DMK is pledging to scrap the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) and assured steps for waiver of all education loans taken by students.

The opposition party called for for a separate budget for agriculture and a hike of Income Tax exemption upto Rs800,000.

ADMK promises a ‘Amma Poverty Eradication Scheme’ that would grant Rs1,500 a month for BPL families. It vows to bring back Education to State list and get exemption to Tamil Nadu from NEET.

Statehood to Puducherry, implementation of uniform civil code and an international probe into the alleged genocide and war crimes committed by Sri Lanka on Tamils during the Eelam War IV, also figures in the manifesto.

The party had announced 12 new faces among its 20 candidates for the Lok Sabha. What is interesting is that there is a heavy load of family people in the lists.

The DMK announced former Union ministers Dayanidhi Maran, A Raja and T R Baalu and its Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi among its candidates for the 20 Lok Sabha seats.

Party president MK Stalin said Dayanidhi Maran, his cousin, will contest from Central Chennai, A Raja from Nilgiris (R) and TR Baalu from Sriperumbudur constituencies, which they had won in 2009.

Kanimozhi will, for the first time, try her luck in the Lok Sabha polls as she has is being fielded in Thoothukudi constituency. Her rival is BJP state president Tamilisai. The DMK is contesting 20 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state, leaving the rest to its allies, including Congress.

Former Union ministers of state S Jagathratchagan and SS Palanimanickam have been fielded in Arakkonam and Thanjavur constituencies.

T Sumathi alias Tamizhachi Thangapandian, a noted orator in Tamil, will contest from Chennai South, Kalanidhi Veerasamy from Chennai North and DM Kathir Anand, son of party treasurer Durai Murugan, from Vellore.

While Tamizhachi is the daughter of late DMK leader V. Thangapandian and sister of former State Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Kalanidhi is the son of former State minister Arcot N. Veerasamy.