Prime Minister Narendra Modi, inaugurating Tamil Nadu's Pamban bridge today, mocked the Opposition, saying they are like people who cry without any reason. In the backdrop of Chief Minister MK Stalin's complaints about delimitation and the third language issue, PM Modi pointed out that the funds allocated for the rail projects of the state has gone up nearly seven times.
"The infrastructure of Tamil Nadu is a top priority for the government... Before 2014, only Rs 900 crore were received every year for rail projects and you all know who was heading the INDI Alliance at that time. This time Tamil Nadu's rail budget is more than Rs 6000 crore," he said amid allegations of inadequate allocation of funds.
The government is also modernising 77 railway stations, including the one in Rameswaram, he said.
Pointing to the Centre's largesse in another area, he said, "Over the last 10 years, under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, a lot of work has been done on village roads and highways".
"After 2014, with the help of the central government, around 4,000 km of roads have been built in Tamil Nadu," he added.
Chief Minister Stalin has repeatedly alleged that the Centre has been attempting to curb the southern states - politically through delimitation and culturally through the three-language policy. The Centre, he said, has made it clear that the state's funds will be held back if it did not follow the National Education policy.
These, however, were not the issues PM Modi referred to. He, instead, took on the leaders of Tamil Nadu for signing in English and not in Tamil and challenged the state to introduce medical education in Tamil.
As Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the Pamban bridge, Mr Stalin skipped the event, inaugurating a government-run medical college high in the Nilgiris. In his address even today, he demanded that the centre give a firm commitment that the present proportion of MPs in parliament will be protected.
"Through this meeting, I want to ask PM Modi to allay the just fears of Tamil Nadu. From the soil of Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister should give an assurance that the proportion and percentage of MPs in states that have controlled population will not come down,; he said, demanding a constitutional amendment in this respect.
The BJP has failed to open its account in Tamil Nadu I the last two general elections. Now with its majority gone in parliament, as it navigates coalition politics at the centre, it is looking for new states to expand in. Most of the northern states being saturated, the paty has now cast its eyes on the south.
