BJP vs DMK: Who offers more? BJP counters with ₹10,000 cash and ₹2,000 monthly pay

CHENNAI: Marking the auspicious occasion of Tamil New Year (Puthandu), Union Minister J.P. Nadda officially released the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Contesting as part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in partnership with the AIADMK, the BJP has focused its "Vision Document" on direct cash transfers, religious preservation, and a "zero-tolerance" approach to narcotics and crime.

The manifesto centers on significant financial relief for households, matching and expanding on similar promises made by the AIADMK and DMK:

• Family Assistance: A one-time payment of ₹10,000 to every household in the state.
• Monthly Stipend: A monthly allowance of ₹2,000 for all women heads of households.
• Free LPG: Three free cooking gas cylinders annually, to be provided on Pongal, Diwali, and Tamil Puthandu.
• Farmer Support: Under the Uzhavu Thai scheme, the BJP promised a ₹3,000 top-up to the central PM-Kisan scheme, bringing total annual assistance to ₹9,000 per farmer.

Addressing law and order—a central theme of the BJP’s campaign against the DMK—the manifesto outlines:

• Women’s Safety: Implementation of "Zero-FIR" reporting across the state and the creation of Special Fast-Track Courts to handle atrocities against women.
• Anti-Narcotics Drive: The establishment of a dedicated Tamil Nadu Drug Eradication Department and a specialised task force to combat drug trafficking.
• Infrastructure: Expanding rail connectivity via High-Speed Rail Corridors (Chennai-Bengaluru, Chennai-Hyderabad) and local RRTS projects in the Coimbatore-Tiruppur-Salem belt.

In a move to consolidate its cultural voter base, the BJP pledged:

• Thaipoosam: To be declared a State Festival to honor Lord Murugan.
• Thiruparankundram Hilltop: Guarantees to resume and protect the tradition of lighting the Karthigai Deepam atop the hill, a point of recent legal and political contention.
• Airport Renaming: Naming the Madurai International Airport after freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar

The event was attended by Nainar Nagenthran (Tamil Nadu BJP President), K. Annamalai (who now holds a national organisational role), and senior leader Tamilisai Soundararajan.

Union Minister J.P. Nadda used the launch to deliver a scathing critique of the ruling DMK, accusing the M.K. Stalin-led government of turning the state into a "crime capital" and failing to fulfill its 2021 promises. With the AIADMK also promising ₹2,000 for women and the DMK offering ₹8,000 appliance coupons, the 2026 election has turned into a high-stakes battle of welfare "guarantees."