CHENNAI: The two warring Dravidian majors of Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK, seem to be on the same page on several issues as the AIADMK manifesto mirrored the position of the ruling party on a host of issues.
On devolution of funds from the centre, sharing of cess revenue with states, removing the borrowing limit of states, making Tamil the official language of the Madras High Court, establishment of a bench of the Supreme Court in Chennai, and increasing the number of working days under MGNREGA from 100 to 150, the parties have made identical promises.
The AIADMK manifesto released by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday has 133 promises. Though the document does not mention the present confrontation between the governors and governments in several states, including Tamil Nadu, the party said appointing a governor without consulting the CMs will lead to confrontations, resonating with the position of its archrival DMK.
“Though the governor post is titular, as long as this constitutional post exists, the governors should be appointed only in consultation with the CMs and with their consent. This has been reiterated by our late leader J Jayalalithaa and the AIADMK will take all steps to ensure that the centre implements this,” the AIADMK manifesto said. One striking feature, however, is that while the DMK manifesto vociferously attacked the BJP, the AIADMK has been circumspect in its criticism. The AIADMK manifesto has been drafted carefully to avoid any direct attack on the saffron party.
The AIADMK also said the sharing of funds for centrally sponsored schemes being implemented in the states should be increased from the present 60:40 to 75:25.
Opposition to NEET since state govts follow different syllabi: AIADMK
The central share for many schemes has not been hiked for a long time and AIADMK will urge central government to hike them. Though the manifesto said it would urge the central government to introduce a new system of admission to medical courses based on the marks scored by the students in their Plus Two Examination giving an equal platform for all instead of the NEET, this has been the demand of most of the political parties in TN.
AIADMK manifesto said there has been opposition to NEET since state governments follow different syllabi. AIADMK promised to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET.