The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha election, has said it would press for the lifting of the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and push for a plebiscite on establishing Tamil Eelam.
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The manifesto, released by the party general secretary Vaiko here on Saturday, said the party would press the Union government to work for conducting a plebiscite among the Tamils of Sri Lanka and the Tamil diaspora across the world on establishing Tamil Eelam. The complete shutdown of the Koodankulam and Kalpakkam atomic power plants and the abolition of capital punishment are some of the other key highlights of the party manifesto.
Speaking to mediapersons on the occasion, Mr. Vaiko said the MDMK favoured Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had backed Rahul Gandhi to be the Prime Minister, he said, and added that the MDMK stood with him in endorsing Mr. Gandhi.
Commenting on the Katchatheevu issue, Mr. Vaiko maintained that the island belonged to India. “I have spoken about it multiple times in Parliament. It is possible to recover Katchatheevu through legal means and by passing Bills in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,” he said.
Replying to a question on the controversy of the MDMK opting to contest on its own symbol in the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Vaiko said it was a decision of the party to protect its individuality. “This decision was announced to the public only after conveying it to Mr. Stalin. We lost our ‘top’ symbol because of a mistake of the Election Commission,” he added.