Vijay's TN govt scraps Parandur airport project; affirms standing with the protesters
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Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph C. Vijay (file photo)
Chennai: Elected governments are said to be a continuity of their predecessors, no matter which party or alliance formed them. And projects initiated by one are seldom shelved by the successor, especially when money has been spent, external parties and MOU's are involved and retracting them would have far-reaching implications. But not so for decisions on which policy dictates of succeeding governments inherited from their ideology or erstwhile role as Opposition and campaigns conducted then will decide which side to take.
Current Tamil Nadu government led by chief minister C Joseph Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had opposed tooth and nail the project of a new airport near the state capital in Parandur, which the DMK had initiated. In his statement about scrapping the project, Vijay also made it clear that he stood firm with the protesters against the proposed airport.
Vijay recalled the party's opposition to the project from as early as October 2024 and his statement then that airports were needed for industrial development but could not be built at the cost of farmers' welfare.
"To fulfill the promise I made to the people that day... the steps taken to establish a new airport in Parandur will be abandoned by this government," NDTV quoted Vijay as saying.
The project had obtained in-principle approval from the Civil Aviation Ministry in April 2025 to build the airport in Parandur, in Kancheepuram district.
But not to be outdone by the new chief minister's apparently populist decision, his predecessor DMK's MK Stalin has dared Vijay to "open our files' to show what decisions were taken by the previous government. Stalin said that instead of creating insinuations about the earlier decision to proceed with the project, the new government should bring the facts before the people's house.
The DMK also threatened to move a privilege motion against him in the assembly, and the party leader Duraimurugan gave a week's time for the ruling party to present the facts failing which he would move a privilege motion against the chief minister for misleading the assembly.