Congress' Chidambaram hits out at AIADMK's claim of Tamil Nadu being a power surplus state

Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram questioned the ruling AIADMK's claim that Tamil Nadu was a power surplus state and said that it was a false claim. The senior Congress leader claimed that only 50% of the electricity in demand was generated in Tamil Nadu while the rest was purchased from overseas and asked if this was what AIADMK meant by a power surplus state. Chidambaram's attack on the AIADMK government comes ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly elections which are scheduled to be held in a single-phase, with the polling of votes on April 6 followed by counting and declaration of results on May 2.

Chidambaram attacks AIADMK over electricity

"The AIADMK government claims that Tamil Nadu is a power surplus state. It is not true. Power surplus state means that Tamil Nadu meets its demand and sells surplus power to other states", Chidambaram tweeted. 

"Only 50% of the electricity demand in Tamil Nadu is generated in Tamil Nadu and we buy 50% from overseas. How can we say that Tamil Nadu is a lightning state?", he asked. 

Congress unveils manifesto for Tamil Nadu elections

Congress has vowed to introduce new farm laws in place of the legislation passed by the Centre if voted to power, as it unveiled its election manifesto on Tuesday. Unveiling Congress' election manifesto, TNCC chief KS Alagiri slammed CM Edappadi Palaniswami for supporting the farm laws and claimed that the ruling AIADMK government favoured the laws and not the farmers. Speaking to the press after the manifesto launch, Congress leader KS Alagiri said that new farm laws will be introduced in place of the existing ones to 'protect the farmers'. The Congress leader claimed that the party would implement the findings of the MS Swaminathan report. Congress also echoed DMK's promise to ban NEET exams if elected to power and vowed to take steps to increase the 7.5% quota for govt school-going students in all vocational colleges, including medicine, to 10%. 

Further, Congress vowed to urge the Centre to include fishermen in the list of tribals as per the Mandal Commission, citing that they stayed away from the mainland and hence were required to be recognized. It also vowed to bring a complete ban on alcohol in the state if elected to power. The DMK ally assured to provide equal opportunities for women in education and employment while also promising to increase pension for senior citizens. 

Congress gets 25 seats under DMK alliance

Congress and DMK finalized the seat-sharing pact for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections as the Dravidian party allotted 25 Assembly seats and the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha Constituency to the grand old party. TNCC chief KS Alagiri, Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao inked the seat-sharing pact with DMK supremo MK Stalin after meeting the latter in DMK's headquarters in Chennai on Sunday. Congress was involved in multiple rounds of talks with DMK to negotiate seat-sharing, with the former demanding more seats to contest in while the latter remained hesitant to do so.

Tamil Nadu elections

With AIADMK announcing its state alliance with BJP, the EPS-OPS-led party has declared itself as the ' big brother' in the NDA alliance. Former Jaya aide Sasikala announced her sudden decision to quit politics, thereby ending speculations of her role in the upcoming elections. The AIADMK has also survived a long-running tug-of-war over its leadership with Sasikala announcing her intention to retire from politics, and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran allying his AMMK with the SDPI, Asaduddin Owaiai's AIMIM and Captain Vijaykanth's DMDK. Meanwhile, in a bid to woo voters, EPS has announced a massive farm loan waiver, free COVID vaccines, Pongal gift and rescinded cases against Jallikattu protestors, anti-CAA protestors, COVID lockdown violators and Kudankulam nuclear power plant protestors. Meanwhile, ex-CM Karunanidhi's successor - DMK chief MK Stalin eyes his maiden CM term as DMK cannot afford to lose a third straight Assembly election after sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with 38 seats.