DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran stated on Tuesday that his party will fight for the rights of Southern states, alleging that the Central government is attempting to undermine their powers.
Commenting on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's release of a video related to the delimitation issue, Maran said, “Exactly, this is what they are trying to take away the powers of all Southern states. We will fight for the rights of the Southern states. Every time the BJP wants to steal away our rights.”
Maran was campaigning for the DMK candidate in the Egmore assembly constituency on the same day. Speaking exclusively about the election campaign in Chennai, Maran said, “We have a wonderful campaign. We have Tamil Prasanna, who is very well known in the political field. He is now contesting from the Egmore constituency and is a prospective winning candidate. And again, this is part of Central Chennai. So, always Egmore is the pride of Chennai, and Mr Tamil Prasanna is going to be a successful candidate from DMK.”
Regarding the BJP manifesto, Maran criticised unfulfilled promises, stating, “First, ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give the 15 lakh rupees to every account, which he promised 12 years back. I think there are so many failed promises by the BJP. In fact, the people of Tamil Nadu know that the BJP lies, and Modi lies, Amit Shah lies, and Nirmala Sitharaman lies.”
Tamil Nadu is scheduled to hold its assembly elections in a single phase on April 23, with vote counting planned for May 4. The main contest is anticipated between the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, which includes the Indian National Congress, DMDK and VCK, and the National Democratic Alliance led by AIADMK, allied with BJP and PMK.
Additionally, actor-turned-politician Vijay will make his electoral debut with his party TVK, potentially introducing a three-way contest in the election.