Tamil Nadu Assembly election 2026: AIADMK releases manifesto; assures free refrigerators to women ration card-holders
Releasing the AIADMK manifesto for the 2026 Assembly elections, party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, announced that one kg of pulses and one liter of edible oil along with free rice will be provided free of charge to ration card holders under the public distribution system (PDS).
Free refrigerators
Distribution of free refrigerators to women benefiting from PDS, revising the electricity tariff in common facilities in multi-storey apartments and increasing the horizontal reservation rate from 7.5% to 10.5% in admission of students studying in public schools to medical courses are among the highlights of the manifesto. It contained 297 assurances.
Mr. Palaniswami told reporters at the party headquarters that if his party wins power, the government will do everything to increase resources to fund all social welfare programmes. “As a government, we will do the same this time as we handled the situation during the funding shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As for agriculture, the party assured voters that steps would be taken to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy at ₹3,500 per quintal (currently ₹2,545 and ₹2,500 per quintal for grade A and common varieties respectively) and ₹4,500 per tonne for sugarcane (currently ₹3,500) as a fair and remunerative price. Small and marginal farmers will receive annual production subsidy of up to ₹15,000 per hectare. A scheme will be formulated to provide accident insurance cover of ₹25 lakh for the families of missing fishermen and those killed at sea.
In the manifesto, it was stated that there was “no change” in the party’s attitude towards the provisions of the National Education Policy that harm the two-language formula, and that the non-harmful provisions of the policy could be “accepted”.
Amma Clinics
Other assurances given by AIADMK include revival of around 2,000 Amma Clinics; conversion of all city buses to electric vehicles; and ₹30,000 subsidy for 1 kilowatt (KW) installed on homes and ₹60,000 for 2KW rooftop solar panels.
The party said it will appeal to the Union government to allow night flights and set up cargo handling facilities at Thoothukudi airport, besides restoring 50% concession in railway fare for senior citizens and journalists.
On the sensitive issue of reintroducing the Old Pension Scheme for state government employees, the AIADMK said that the Contributory Pension Scheme and the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme will be reviewed.
It was stated that the income ceiling on journalists’ pensions will be removed. It was also stated that a call would be made to the Union government to provide “dual citizenship” to Sri Lankan refugees living in rehabilitation camps.
On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the party said it would appeal to the Center to include pump sets in the list of farm machinery equipment to reduce the tax rate from 18% to 5%. It was stated that the same downward revision will be recommended for recycled plastic waste and products produced from it, as well as the raw materials needed to make environmentally friendly paper bags. Likewise, it was stated that the rate of GST on business affairs of micro, small and medium enterprises should be only 5%.
The party expressed its determination to “quickly transform the State into a trillion-dollar economy.”
When asked why he chose Mylapore to launch his election campaign, Mr Palaniswami said the reason was “proximity”. If he had been in Salem, he would have done it from there, he added.
‘Negotiations continue’
To a question about concluding talks with other allies, the AIADMK leader said talks are ongoing and will be completed in a few days. He said the alliance between the PMK faction led by party founder S. Ramadoss and the All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam led by VK Sasikala will have no impact on the NDA’s prospects.
It was published – 24 March 2026 22:33 IST
