Congress MP Karti Chidambaram addresses media persons along with Tirunelveli MP Robert Bruce and MDMK MP Durai Vaiko in Tirunelveli on Monday,
| Photo Credit: A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Monday urged the Tamil Nadu Government to identify a suitable place for the second airport project at the earliest as the ‘over-utilised and shabbily maintained’ airport at Meenambakkam was struggling to handle the overwhelming flow of passengers,His remarks came after the State government announced the withdrawal of the proposal to set up a second airport at Parandur near Chennai.Mr. Karti, who was here to attend a town hall along with Tirunelveli MP C. Robert Bruce of Congress and Tiruchi MP Durai Vaiko of MDMK, told reporters that the airport in Chennai, which was ‘India’s worst’ due to bad maintenance and poor management, could not handle the rapidly increasing passenger traffic.After world-class airports had come up in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, Chennai too should have such a facility at the earliest. Since the Parandur airport proposal encountered obstacles from villagers, the government should identify a suitable site for the much-needed and much-delayed project after getting the consent of local residents.He observed that there was no need to link the Women’s Reservation Bill with the delimitation exercise for increasing the number of seats in Parliment beyond 850. Even in its present form, 181 seats out of the total 543 in the Lok Sabha could be reserved for women, and 13 of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry could be allotted for them. Hence, the BJP was mischievously trying to connect the delimitation plan with the Women’s Reservation Bill.In order to twist things in its favour, the BJP was luring a “few regional parties” with the promise of 50% increase in seats without considering the population, leaving Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with just 60 seats, while Uttar Pradesh’s share would jump from 80 to 120. “So, a party which can get more seats in North India, will easily come to power, while south India’s political presence will become irrelevant. So, the existing number of 543 should be retained for the next 25 years,” Mr. Karti said.Mr. Durai Vaiko, without naming DMK’s mouthpiece, Murasoli, said the newspaper was carrying articles in support of the delimitation being proposed by the BJPMr. Karti also came down heavily on the Centre on devolution of Central funds by unrealistically linking its policies with sharing of funds. The recently passed Mines and Minerals Act, which was legislated without consensus or debate in Parliament, would snatch away the State’s say on the crucial issue.“At the same time, the BJP-led Centre was forced to refer the FCRA Amendment Bill 2026 to a Joint Parliament Committee, thanks to stiff resistance from the Opposition, which firmly stood against the proposal, as it will snatch away the genuine rights of schools, colleges and hospitals being run by religious minorities for benefiting thousands of Hindu students from poor families. Their contribution to today’s developed Tamil Nadu is due to their immeasurable contribution to education and healthcare,” Mr. Durai Vaiko said.He also said the proposed Bill, if enacted in its present form, would empower the Union Government’s administrator to take control of the schools, colleges or hospitals, if minor discrepancies were found in accounting foreign contributions received by the institutions. “It will grossly affect education and healthcare of poor Hindus,” Mr. Durai Vaiko warned, while Mr. Karti termed it as ‘weaponisation of law’ against civil society.Asked INDIA Bloc, without DMK, was strong enough to take on the BJP, Mr. Karti said parties that had differences of opinion in States were cooperating at the national level like the Left parties and Congress. “It is up to the DMK to support federalism and secularism even as the BJP has earned society’s wrath.”Mr. Karti cautioned the Tamil Nadu Government that the bureaucracy, by issuing unilateral announcements against protests and students participating in agitations, was apparently dominating the rulers who were new to politics. “The bureaucracy is doing it due over enthusiasm.”Mr. Robert Bruce said he had submitted a ₹1,000-crore proposal to the Centre for cleaning Tamirabharani River, considering its sacredness and the source of drinking water supply for all southern districts, and a permanent solution for saving the perennial river from pollution. “The proposal will certainly get executed,” he hoped. Published - August 24, 2026 06:49 pm IST
