Ahead of TN assembly polls, EPS announces 2nd set of promises
AIADMK's Edappadi Palaniswami announced new poll promises, including interest-free loans for minority women, increased pensions, and education loan waivers.
Interest-free loans for Muslim and Christian women, increased social security pensions and education loan waiver were among the second set of poll promises announced by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

The leader of opposition in the state assembly announced an increase of social security pensions from ₹1,200 to ₹2,000, waiver of educational loans for students, three LPG gas cylinders annually to ration card holders. He also offered Jallikattu bull tamers a compensation of ₹10 lakh in the event of death and ₹2 lakh for those injured.He also offered interest-free loans for Muslim and Chirtisan women and those from the minority communities, and a waiver of loans obtained from cooperative banks by persons with disabilities.
“No elderly person in Tamil Nadu should struggle for survival . No widow or differently-abled individual should be forced to live in indignity. Education must empower, not enslave our youth in debt. Our students deserve opportunity, not lifelong financial trouble,” Palaniswami, the chief ministerial candidate of the AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said at a press conference on Wednesday.
In the first phase on January 17, he had announced a set of five electoral promises, marking the birth anniversary of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran. It included promises such as increasing the monthly assistance to women from ₹1,000 to ₹ 2,000 and free travel for men in town buses.
“These promises are not election-time theatrics,” the former chief minister said on Wednesday. “When AIADMK governed Tamil Nadu, we delivered stability, welfare and growth together. In 2026, we seek a renewed mandate to restore accountable governance and protect every family in this state.”
ABOUT THE AUTHORDivya ChandrababuDivya Chandrababu is an award-winning political and human rights journalist based in Chennai, India. Divya is presently Assistant Editor of the Hindustan Times where she covers Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. She started her career as a broadcast journalist at NDTV-Hindu where she anchored and wrote prime time news bulletins. Later, she covered politics, development, mental health, child and disability rights for The Times of India. Divya has been a journalism fellow for several programs including the Asia Journalism Fellowship at Singapore and the KAS Media Asia- The Caravan for narrative journalism. Divya has a master's in politics and international studies from the University of Warwick, UK. As an independent journalist Divya has written for Indian and foreign publications on domestic and international affairs.Read More

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