T.N. Assembly election: Stalin hits out at Maharashtra Chief Minister for ‘blackmail’ on Madurai Metro Rail project

Stalin criticizes Maharashtra CM Fadnavis for linking Madurai Metro project to elections, warning voters about NDA's potential impact on local schemes.

DMK president and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday strongly condemned his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis for suggesting that the Madurai Metro Rail project would be sanctioned after the BJP candidate Rama Srinivasan was elected from the Madurai South Assembly constituency. Mr. Fadnavis had made the remark on Monday, when he had accompanied Mr. Srinivasan for the filing of the latter’s nomination.

Campaigning for the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in Srikazhi on Tuesday, Mr. Stalin said it was improper for a Chief Minister to suggest that projects would be sanctioned only if a BJP MLA was elected. “Is he the Prime Minister or a Union Minister to make such assurances? Is this how a constitutional authority should speak?” he asked, adding that such remarks amounted to “blackmail”.

Mr. Stalin said his government had taken the lead in flagging concerns over the proposed delimitation of constituencies and alleged that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami would have “surrendered the State’s rights” if he had been in power.

The Chief Minister pointed out that he had convened an all-party meeting and reached out to leaders across the country to highlight how southern States could lose Parliamentary representation if delimitation was carried out based on population. “It was only because we are in power that we raised these concerns. We invited leaders from various parties and pointed out that southern States would get fewer seats compared to the northern ones. If Mr. Palaniswami had been in power, he would have compromised Tamil Nadu’s interests,” he asserted.

Mr. Stalin said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had spoken about the issue after Tamil Nadu raised it. “Mr. Palaniswami, who has been taken on lease by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not answered our questions. If he does not raise his voice on this, what will he speak about?” he asked.

The Chief Minister also alleged that Christian institutions were being threatened through the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and attempts were being made to impose Hindi. Referring to a media report on the implementation of Central government projects, Mr. Stalin said Tamil Nadu did not figure among the top beneficiary States. “The Union government collects substantial taxes from Tamil Nadu but betrays the State by not sanctioning special projects and budget allocations,” he charged.