CHENNAI: Strongly condemning the denial of Metro Rail projects for ‘Temple City’ Madurai and ‘South India’s Manchester’ Coimbatore by the Union BJP government on flimsy reasons, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday vowed to secure Metro Rail for these cities.
In his post on the X handle, the CM said, "A government exists to serve people without bias. Yet the Union BJP government treats Tamil Nadu’s democratic choice as a reason to take revenge."
Stating that pushing such a political custom, in which BJP-ruled states get Metros for smaller Tier II cities while opposition-ruled States are deprived, is a disgraceful approach, the CM said Tamil Nadu, the land of self-respect, will never accept such a distortion of federal principles.
"They attempted to stall the Chennai Metro, and we overcame those malicious attempts and kept the project progressing. With the same determination, we will secure the Metro Rail that Madurai and Coimbatore need for their future growth. Tamil Nadu will fight! Tamil Nadu will win!" the CM asserted.
On Tuesday, the Union housing and urban affairs ministry rejected Tamil Nadu’s proposals to build Metro rail systems in Coimbatore and Madurai, arguing that both cities fall short of the population and ridership norms laid out in the 2017 Metro Rail Policy and that the detailed project reports (DPRs) overstate demand and underestimate engineering constraints.
In a communication to the state government accessed by the TNIE, the ministry said it had conducted a “careful and thorough” appraisal of the DPRs after Tamil Nadu sought approval for the projects under a 50:50 equity-sharing arrangement with the Centre.