Chief Minister M K Stalin of Tamil Nadu has strongly refuted the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) claim that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has spent Rs 10.76 lakh crore for the state’s growth over the past decade. In a scathing response posted on his social media page, Stalin dismissed the assertion as a “blatant lie” and questioned the credibility of such claims.Stalin’s remarks come in the wake of the BJP’s assertion that the central government has allocated substantial funds for Tamil Nadu’s development. However, Stalin countered these claims, stating that the funds provided to the states are largely determined by the recommendations of the Finance Commission and allocations for specific projects.
Highlighting the disparity in funding allocations, Stalin pointed out that Uttar Pradesh received significantly more funds than Tamil Nadu under the BJP-led central government. He also raised concerns about the BJP’s claims regarding specific projects, such as the AIIMS hospital project in Madurai, where construction has yet to commence despite the claimed allocation of funds.
The Chief Minister expressed skepticism regarding the BJP’s inclusion of projects like the Chennai metro rail phase-II and the Sagar Mala project in the total fund allocation, noting that no funds have been allocated for these projects so far.
Stalin further criticized the BJP for including repayable loans disbursed to MSMEs in Tamil Nadu as part of the claimed fund allocation, questioning the transparency and accuracy of such calculations.
Stalin called upon BJP union ministers to provide clarity on the actual amount of funds released and utilized for projects in Tamil Nadu over the past decade.