CHENNAI: Leaders of DMK’s alliance partners on Wednesday condemned the union government for rejecting metro rail proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, calling the move discriminatory and detrimental to Tamil Nadu’s development.
While TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai accused the centre of “systematically denying approvals and withholding funds” for major state projects for more than a decade, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian pointed out that centre’s assessment, based on 2011 census data, ignored the rapid population growth in both the cities.
Selvaperunthagai said Coimbatore was among the 19 Tier-II cities identified for metro projects by the Union Urban Development Ministry in 2010.
“Cities like Kochi and Pune, which were on the same list, already have metro, but the Coimbatore project has not progressed for 15 years,” he said.
“Despite submitting revised DPRs in 2024, the centre has rejected the projects. This is a grave injustice to Tamil Nadu.” CPM state secretary P Shanmugam termed the decision “deliberately exclusionary”. Both the Left parties have urged the centre to reconsider its stance and approve the projects and allocated adequate funds for the same.
Accusing the centre of trying to prevent Tamil Nadu’s growth, the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance has announced agitation on November 20 and November 21 in Coimbatore and Madurai respectively.
In a statement, the alliance said, “By showing partiality in sharing the GST revenue and by not allocating educational funds, the union government has continuously been showing indifference to Tamil Nadu.”
Reacting to the charge, former state BJP president K Annamalai said the DMK government’s submission of faulty DPR was the reason for the rejection.