Tamil Nadu polls: It’s raining freebies in Vijay’s manifesto

CHENNAI: TVK president Joseph Vijay joined the populist bandwagon of Dravidian majors, announcing a slew of freebies in the party's election manifesto, ranging from 2,500 monthly dole for women to 25 lakh health insurance coverage for families.

Most of the promises targeted youth and women. Vijay told party workers that he would visit Perambur and Trichy East once a month after becoming an MLA and that meeting him would not be difficult for the public.

Releasing the compilation of his poll promises in Chennai on Thursday, Vijay, however, said he was different from DMK and AIADMK, which have copied each other's poll promises.

"DMK and the others are same. If one promises 10,000, the other offers 8,000. If one says 2,000 monthly assistance, the other also says the same. Both are identical in corruption too,'' Vijay said.

However, TVK was different from them, he said. "We have promised only those that we will be able to deliver,'' he said and listed out the promises.

He said under ‘Vetri Magalir Thittam', 2,500 would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of women under 60 years of age, while six LPG cylinders a year would be given to every family.

"One sovereign gold and a silk saree would be given to poor women for their marriage. Mother or guardian of children studying from class I to XII in govt or govt-aided schools would be given 15,000 a year to prevent dropouts,'' he said. All households will be given 200 free units of electricity, he said.

Vijay said he would not give false promises. "I also promise that I will not touch even a paisa from public money,'' he said.

Other promises include a 5 lakh interest-free loan for women self-help groups, establishment of 100 ‘Kamarajar schools of excellence', free residential schools in all districts, 20 lakh collateral-free education loans and artificial intelligence-based free coaching for competitive exams.

For farmers, he said minimum support price (MSP) would be fixed at 3,500 per quintal of paddy and 4,500 for sugarcane. Five lakh solar pumpsets would be given, he said.

Loans obtained from agricultural cooperative societies by farmers with less than five acres will be completely waived, he said. Targeting fishermen, he said MSP for fish would be fixed for the first time in India.

Vijay then appealed to women to draw TVK's symbol ‘whistle' as kolam in front of their houses.

Get real-time updates and result insights on the CBSE 12 Result 2026.