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MK Stalin hails Congress manifesto as restoring states’ rights

M.K Stalin said the poll document of the national party gave immense satisfaction and hope.

Chennai: Hailing the Congress party’s manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, released on Tuesday, as an “extremely heartening development” towards restoring the rights of the states, the DMK president M.K Stalin said the poll document of the national party gave immense satisfaction and hope.

Welcoming the Congress manifesto, released by Sonia Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders in New Delhi, Stalin said in a statement here, that it came as a vindication of the DMK’s long-standing political commitment to a federal structure at the Centre, with more powers to the States.

While the highlight of the manifesto is its biggest anti-poverty programme for the country so far, Stalin said the minimum income support programme of `72,000 per annum to 25 crore poorest families, ‘Nyay’, will bring cheer to the poorest of the poor, a goal close to the DMK’s heart which Kalaignar Karunanidhi strived for.

The Congress commitment to abolish ‘Neet’ for medical and dental college admissions has come as a huge relief to students from Tamil Nadu in particular, Stalin said, adding, the national party’s manifesto reflects several of the commitments made by the DMK’s own poll manifesto released recently.

Referring to several other positive themes in the Congress manifesto, Stalin said the assurance to consider transferring of more powers to States vis-à-vis items on the Concurrent list of the Constitution, and more particularly shifting back ‘Education’ to the State list, writing off farm loans, a leaner GST, and increasing the number of days of guaranteed work under ‘Mgnrega’ from 100 to 150 days, besides 33 per cent reservation for women in Central government jobs, have all a huge transformative potential, responding to the people’s needs.

“It is heartening that the DMK’s demands as an established regional party has been endorsed by a national party with a long, illustrious tradition,” Stalin said, adding, at least after seeing the Congress manifesto, the critics of the DMK here who derided it for promising ‘non-implementable’ schemes, will now be silenced.

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