Won't bend or bow in fight for TN's rights in Parliament: CM Stalin

CHENNAI: Setting the tone for the debates in Parliament, Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Saturday said, “We should not bend or bow. Tamil Nadu’s representatives must demand accountability from the BJP-led Union government in the upcoming session.”

The DMK MPs, who met under the leadership of party chief MK Stalin on Saturday, accused the BJP-led Union government of undermining Tamil Nadu’s development and adopted 12 resolutions outlining the party’s priorities for the upcoming Parliament session.

The resolutions adopted charged that the Union government had “stalled the growth of the Tamil Nadu people” by withholding flagship schemes and delaying previously announced projects. The Modi government had created a “black mark” in Centre–State relations and betrayed a welfare-oriented Tamil Nadu, they said in the resolution.

The DMK MPs vowed to raise during the winter session of Parliament their demand to fix a timeline for the Governor of a state to give assent for Bills adopted by the legislative Assembly. The DMK asserted that it will not rest in its legal battle to set a time limit for the Governor to give assent to Bills passed by the Assembly.

It was not fair not to pay attention to the representations of the state taken up in the forms of letters, petitions and resolutions passed in the Assembly, MK Stalin said.

No one with a conscience will accept the betrayal of Tamil Nadu, which provides huge tax revenues. The state has achieved an economic growth of 11.19 per cent, the highest in the country, despite such betrayal by the centre, he added.

In the upcoming session of Parliament, the BJP government must answer the representatives of the people of Tamil Nadu, he said in a social media post tagging the resolutions passed.

The MPs sought to highlight the Centre's denial of funds for key railway projects, refusal to approve Metro Rail expansions (in Coimbatore and Madurai), and stalled proposals for airport development in Coimbatore and Madurai.

The MPs also resolved to raise issues such as the pending Presidential assent for the Kalaignar University Bill, protection for farmers affected by the fortified rice scheme, increasing the permissible moisture content in paddy to 22 per cent, and the denial of MGNREGS and Samagra Shiksha funds.

They are also all set to urge the Centre to find a permanent solution to the long-pending fishermen’s issue, during debates in Parliament's upper and lower houses.

After the meeting, Stalin said in a post on X that it was unjust for the Union government to disregard Tamil Nadu’s voice in a democracy. He said the State’s demands were being repeatedly denied despite demi-official letters, petitions and Assembly resolutions.