EPS Launches Poll Campaign For 2026

Chennai: Trumpeting his agricultural roots and claiming familiarity with the woes of the pastoral community. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami kicked started his State-wide election tour on Monday by offering prayers at the Vanabadrakaliamman temple in Mettupalayam and raising the slogan ‘Save People, Redeem Tamil Nadu’ (Makkalai Kaapom, Tamilagan Meetpom).

After invoking divine blessings, Palaniswami’s maiden rendezvous was a group of farmers, weavers and brick makers, who were waiting at the nearby Amman Appan marriage hall, where he promised to implement the second phase of the Athikadavu- Avinashi irrigation scheme that aimed at irrigating every acre of land in Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore district.

Since the Union Government did not approve of the entire Athikadavu-Avinashi scheme (it involves diversion of 1.5 tmcft of surplus water from the downstream of the Kalingarayan Anicut in River Bhavani once a year to fill 1,045 water bodies in the drought hit parts of the three districts), it was split into two phases and the first phase was completed in 2024.

As a promise to the voters of the region, Palaniswami said that second phase would be implemented if the AIADMK came back to power and listed out a few of its plans that could not be carried out because the DMK came to power in 2021.

After his visit to Buffalo in the United States, he had envisaged a slew of cattle related projects for Tamil Nadu that had to be given up after the AIADMK lost power, he said. It was the AIADMK that gave free electricity to farmers, provided three-phase power supply to them, built green houses for them and made available alluvial soil for them, he said.

Accusing the DMK of raising the power tariff four times, he said if the AIADMK was voted to power all the farmers’ problems would be solved, reminding the gathering that 6000 lakes were desilted during the party’s earlier rule. Accepting petitions from the farmers, weavers and brick kiln owners, he said all the demands would be acceded to once the AIADMK came to power.

With Palaniswami launching his election campaign almost one year ahead of the polls, the AIADMK workers are upbeat about the party’s prospects as they feel they would be able to defeat the DMK whose popularity, they perceive, has declined of late.

So a huge crowd turned up for the inauguration of the campaign, in which the party honcho plans to visit each and every 234 constituencies to canvas votes for his alliance that includes the BJP.