Image used for representational purpose only. File.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday (November 19, 2025) accused the BJP government at the Centre of denying Metro Rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore on flimsy grounds.
In a post on X, he said, “The Union BJP government has denied Metro Rail for ‘Temple City’ Madurai and for ‘South India’s Manchester’, Coimbatore, on flimsy grounds. A government exists to serve people without bias. Yet the Union BJP treats Tamil Nadu’s democratic choice as a reason to take revenge.”
Mr. Stalin said pushing such a political custom, in which BJP-ruled States get Metros for smaller Tier II cities while opposition-ruled States are deprived, is a disgraceful approach. “Tamil Nadu, the land of Self-Respect, will never accept such a distortion of federal principles,” he added.
“They [Centre] attempted to stall the Chennai Metro, and we overcame those malicious attempts and kept the project progressing. With the same determination, we will secure the Metro Rail that Madurai and Coimbatore need for their future growth,” he added.
The Union government earlier rejected the Metro Rail project proposals for Coimbatore and Madurai, arguing that the two cities lack the mandated 2-million population according to the 2011 census.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said the population of Coimbatore city is 15.84 lakh and that of Madurai is 15 lakh according to the 2011 census. The Metro Rail Policy, 2017, states that the population of a city should be 2 million or more to plan a Metro Rail project.
Published – November 19, 2025 08:37 am IST
