CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday asked the BJP-led union government to immediately approve the proposals submitted for Tamil Nadu’s archaeology department to conduct excavations in Keeladi, Adichanur and Nagapattinam.
He said that though the proposals were submitted in July 2025 and were taken up in a meeting chaired by the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India in November, the approvals have not been granted yet.
Alleging that the proposals have been kept pending for eight months, he said, Tamil Nadu has raised the issue time and again, but it has been ignored every time.
“Let Keeladi speak. Let history rise,” Stalin said. “I want to ask, why this hesitation? The antiquity of Tamil civilisation does not diminish India. It adds to India’s civilisational pride. What is the BJP government afraid of? Approve the excavations and let history speak,” he said in a message posted on X.
The excavation season in Tamil Nadu runs only from January to July. If this window is missed, monsoon conditions will stall fieldwork, delay vital research and waste funds already allocated for 2025-2026, he further said.
Earlier in the day, Stalin also rejected allegations made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over delays in Maduravoyal-Chennai Port elevated corridor project during the latter’s rally in Madurai on Sunday, and asserted that the claims were politically motivated.
Speaking at a summit organised by a magazine in Chennai, the chief minister said the elevated corridor project had been stalled earlier by the AIADMK government, which is now an ally of the BJP.
“After we assumed office, we took it up with the union government and only now the works are taking place,” he said.
Accusing the Prime Minister of making unfounded allegations, Stalin said, “Since he has no achievements to speak about, the Prime Minister has begun spreading false allegations against the state government during election time.”