Tamil Nadu's Battle for Metro Projects: MK Stalin Accuses Centre of Political Bias in Rejecting Madurai and Coimbatore Proposals

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticized the Union government for denying metro rail projects for Madurai and Coimbatore, describing the decision as "cheap" and "a vendetta" against Tamil Nadu for rejecting the BJP. He accused the Centre of undermining federalism and promised that Tamil Nadu would ultimately secure these metro projects despite obstacles, similar to their experience with Chennai Metro.

Stalin pointed out that the Centre had approved metro systems for significantly smaller tier-II cities in BJP-ruled states while ignoring proposals from the Opposition-led Tamil Nadu. "Self-respecting, rich Tamil Nadu will never accept destruction of federalism," he declared.

DMK Coimbatore MP Ganapathy Rajkumar characterized the rejection as "step-motherly treatment" from the BJP government.

According to DMK sources, while the Centre cited population requirements under the Metro Rail Policy 2017 to justify the rejection, metros had been sanctioned for several BJP-ruled cities with lower populations. Coimbatore's local planning authority population is 23.5 lakh (2011 Census), which meets the 20-lakh criterion, while Madurai's municipal and agglomeration populations of 10.2 lakh and 14.7 lakh respectively are comparable to other cities that received approval.

The sources highlighted that the Centre had approved metro projects for Agra (1.6 million), Patna (1.7 million), and Bhopal (1.88 million) - all with populations under 20 lakh. Additionally, metros had been sanctioned for multiple non-capital tier-II cities in other states including Kanpur, Nagpur, Pune, Indore, and Surat.

In response, the DMK and its allies have scheduled protests against what they call the Centre's "discriminatory" decision - in Coimbatore on November 20 and in Madurai on November 21.

The BJP has rejected allegations of political bias. In an interview with NDTV, senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan stated, "There is no discrimination on approval for metro rail for Madurai and Coimbatore. Clarifications on population have been sought, and Tamil Nadu has to provide them." She emphasized that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed to Tamil Nadu's development, citing the higher number of Vande Bharat trains allocated to the state. She maintained that this issue "will not be a negative" for the BJP in the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections.

BJP Spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy claimed, "This is not outright rejection."

In a setback for the BJP, its ally AIADMK broke ranks, with party leader Edappadi K Palaniswami urging the Centre to expedite the metro proposals for both cities.

This dispute adds to the growing political tension between the DMK and BJP ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, with infrastructure approvals becoming a significant point of contention in Centre-state relations.