DMK interviews Baalu,Azhagiri

Coming out of the meeting,Azhagiri said he had applied for a ticket and was called for an interview by the party committee,but refused to comment further. Rumours about his daughter Kayalvizhi contesting in this election continued on Thursday,while Azhagiri claimed he was unaware of any such developments.

Kayalvizhi’s reported candidature from Congress bastion Kanyakumari had instigated many of its cadres to protest in front of TNCC headquarters,Sathyamurthy Bhavan,on Wednesday. The issue is yet to die down completely as local functionaries alleged that state leaders who took part in the seat-sharing talks with DMK did not press the demand for Kanyakumari constituency hard enough.

Meanwhile,releasing the DMK manifesto here on Thursday,Karunanidhi exuded confidence that the front will emerge victorious after the elections. “Vetri namathe (victory is ours),” he told party workers. Reminding voters of the five years since they elected UPA in a 40-0 whitewash,the manifesto recalls that “the 13 Union Ministers from the state have implemented a number of schemes—Tamil Nadu obtained 11 per cent of the total plan expenditure over the last five years. This unprecedented financial transfer facilitated implementation of 69 Union plan schemes in the state.”

Small-scale industrial units,public sector companies,service sector and the agriculture sector should be insulated from the effects of recession,the manifesto said. The new government at the Centre should also provide more autonomy for the states,it said,pointing out that increased growth rate was possible in the 1990s only due to the greater role played by the states and regional parties. The time was now ripe for the advent of genuine constitutional federalism.