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Chennai: A major political confrontation has erupted between the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre after the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs rejected proposals for metro rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led central government, accusing it of "revenge politics" and distorting federal principles by denying essential infrastructure to Tamil Nadu.
Responding to the decision, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin took to social media platform X to express his strong condemnation. He stated that the BJP government's motto is to "act in a common way for everyone," but its actions show a "low trend" of taking "revenge for the people of Tamil Nadu rejecting the BJP." He emphatically declared that Tamil Nadu, as a "self-respecting land, will never accept such a distortion of the federal ideology." Reassuring the public, he vowed, "We have overcome the attempts to delay and block the Chennai Metro work and have moved forward! Similarly, we will bring the essential metro rail to Madurai & Coimbatore for future development!"
The Union Ministry justified its decision by citing the 2017 Metro Rail Policy. According to this policy, large-scale metro rail projects can only be considered for cities with a population exceeding 20 lakhs as per the 2011 census. The Centre pointed out that as per that census, the population of Coimbatore city was 15.84 lakhs and Madurai's was 15 lakhs, making them ineligible. The proposals were subsequently returned, and the state government was advised to explore lower-cost alternative transport solutions like Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS) for both cities.
The rejection has sparked accusations of political bias, as the central government has previously approved metro rail projects for other cities that did not meet the same population threshold. Critics have highlighted that Agra, with a 2011 population of only 15 lakhs, received metro approval in 2019. Similarly, Bhopal, with a population of 19.17 lakhs (still below the 20 lakh mark), was also granted a metro project. This has led to widespread criticism that the BJP-led Centre is deliberately neglecting infrastructure development in the DMK-ruled state, despite having identified Coimbatore as a suitable city for a metro as early as 2010.
