Chennai, Nov 20 (NationPress) A.N.S. Prasad, the Tamil Nadu BJP state spokesperson, has vehemently condemned Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for claiming that the Union Government's rejection of Metro rail projects for Coimbatore and Madurai was driven by “vindictive revenge”. Prasad accused the Chief Minister of “spreading harmful untruths” instead of acknowledging that the state's own flawed submissions were the cause of the delays.

He described it as “regrettable and unworthy” for a Chief Minister to suggest that the Centre was being discriminatory, emphasizing that the Union Government is adhering to the Metro Rail Policy of 2017, a policy that is uniformly applied throughout the nation.

“The Chief Minister is intentionally misguiding the populace. The policy explicitly states that Metro projects are only considered for cities with populations exceeding 20 lakh as per Census data utilized in the Detailed Project Report (DPR). There are no exceptions for any state,” he affirmed.

Prasad noted that every city receiving Metro approval post-2017 — including Bhopal, Indore, Kanpur, Lucknow, Nagpur, and Surat — fulfilled the eligibility requirements because their states provided DPRs with accurate urban agglomeration figures rather than outdated municipal limits.

“In contrast, the Tamil Nadu government consistently submitted DPRs for Coimbatore and Madurai based solely on the 2011 Municipal Corporation figures,” Prasad argued.

The cited figures — Coimbatore at 16.01 lakh and Madurai at 14.62 lakh — fell below the necessary threshold, despite the actual urban agglomerations in both cities exceeding 20 lakh.

Labeling this a “self-inflicted blunder”, Prasad questioned why the “so-called Dravidian Model government” failed to meet a fundamental requirement fulfilled by governments across BJP, Congress, BJD, and BRS-ruled states.

“This is not a minor oversight. It reflects ongoing inefficiency disguised as political victimization,” he asserted.

Prasad urged the Chief Minister to amend the DPRs instead of “fabricating false narratives”. He called for the state government to retract its “misleading statements” and instruct officials to submit corrected DPRs within 30 days, utilizing accurate urban agglomeration data.

“The Centre has clarified that as soon as Tamil Nadu satisfies the transparent criteria met by every other state, the Metro projects will be authorized without delay,” Prasad concluded, asserting that the citizens deserve a government that engages with “facts and documentation, not fiction and deceit.”