
CHENNAI: The cancellation of auctioning of tungsten mining block in Madurai district has been welcomed by all parties in the state. While all of them attributed the cancellation to the tireless protests of the people of Madurai district, most of them took credit for the cancellation as well.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in a post on X said the victory is a testament to the relentless protests of the people of Melur in Madurai. He, however, added that it was also the result of the AIADMK’s initiatives, including the protests by the party MLAs inside the Assembly. He reiterated his allegation that the ruling DMK adopted double standards on the issue.
He said the cancellation of the tungsten mining auction by the Union government, by understanding the sentiments of the people and acting in accordance with their wishes, is a victory for people’s power.”
BJP state president K Annamalai, on behalf of the people of Melur and Tamil Nadu, extended thanks to Prime Minister Modi. In his social media post, through X, he added by cancelling the mining auction, the PM has once again reaffirmed his deep concern for the welfare of farmers.
The announcement of cancellation came a day after Annamalai accompanied a delegation of farmers from Madurai to meet Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy in Delhi to highlight their demand for cancellation of the mining project.
VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said the cancellation was a victory of people and there was no need to discuss who else should it be attributed to. Similarly, CPM, which strongly backed the protests in Madurai, CPI, DMDK, and NTK stated that the abandonment of the project was a direct result of the tireless and voluntary protests by the local population.
PMK president Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, and TMC(M) president GK Vasan, also welcomed the cancellation.