DMK, allies walk out of TN Assembly over Parandur airport project scrapping

Chennai: The DMK and other opposition parties in the Tamil Nadu Assembly staged a walkout on Monday following the ruling-TVK's decision to scrap the proposed Parandur greenfield airport project.

Some dissenting parties questioned whether the move was a political gimmick while the DMK accused the Speaker of suppressing opposition voices by denying time for discussion on the announcement.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu scraps Parandur airport plan, looks for new site near Chennai


Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay said the greenfield airport project had drawn strong opposition from farmers who did not wish to part with their land and declared that the project will be shelved.

The project had been conceived during the DMK regime. In protest over the government's decision, the DMK walked out saying that the state's interests cannot be "mortgaged for petty political considerations".

Former chief minister MK Stalin termed the decision as an irreversible setback for Tamil Nadu's growth.

"The announcement made today by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to drop the Parandur International Airport project will set the state's development back by several years," the DMK said. "Tamil Nadu's interests cannot be mortgaged for petty political considerations... The decision to drop Parandur airport project is a devastating blow to employment dreams of TN's youth."

Also Read: 'Dropping Parandur Airport is not change; it's an irreversible setback': MK Stalin, Annamalai question TVK govt over project cancellation

In the Assembly, DMK member EV Velu urged Speaker JCD Prabhakar to allow a discussion on the subject, but was denied permission. The DMK members then protested against the administration's decision to drop the project.

The state's former finance minister, T Thennarasu, told reporters hat the DMK had already submitted a "call-attention" motion to discuss the project's necessity, and they felt the Speaker denied their democratic right to speak by abruptly cutting off discussion on the matter.

Thennarasu claimed that nearly 90% of the required land had already been acquired and compensation disbursed, making the government's decision to abandon the project at this stage both "illogical and harmful" to the state's economic roadmap.