Union Home Minister is set to make yet another political visit to Tamil Nadu on August 22 when he would address the BJP’s booth committee conference in Tirunelveli.
Disclosing this to journalists on Sunday in Chennai, party leader and Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said: “BJP state president Nainar Nagendran will preside over the meeting. Booth agents from five parliamentary constituencies including Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar will participate in the first such conference. We are planning to hold more conferences as we progress.”
In response to a query on Chief Minister M K Stalin’s criticism of the alliance, Mr. Murugan said the AIADMK-BJP alliance is going strong.
To another question about a few well known personalities quitting AIADMK and joining DMK recently, he said it is quite a common occurrence and claimed DMK leaders are in touch with the BJP. However, Mr. Murugan refused to share further details and said they would be known in coming months.
On the recent searches by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) at the premises of State Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy, he contended the agency functions independently based on available inputs.
Mr. Murugan criticised VCK founder and MP Thol. Thirumavalavan on the recent protest by a section of conservancy workers in Chennai and alleged he “was not raising issues relating to Dalits during the DMK regime”.
He also backed Governor R N Ravi’s remark on school education in the State and said the state government should focus on addressing the infrastructure gaps in government schools.
Mr. Murugan said from August 18 onwards 38 trains operating across Tamil Nadu will stop at additional railway stations.
The Minister said he continuously received petitions from the public demanding that express trains, superfast trains and passenger trains should stop at additional railway stations and he took it to the attention of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who accepted the demands of railway passengers and issued necessary orders for extra stoppage.
Mr. Murugan said the Tamil Nadu government has been given about ₹10 lakh crore in the last 10 years to implement social welfare schemes including modernization and expansion of national highways, airports and ports.
The Union government has given ₹6626 crore for the state’s railway projects in 2025-26, while during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime between 2009-2014, this allocation was ₹879 crore, he said.
Mr. Murugan added under the Amrit Bharat Railway Stations Scheme, work is being carried out at a fast pace to upgrade 77 railway stations in Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of ₹2,948 crore.
The Minister said work of laying new tracks for a distance of 2,587 km is under way at an estimated cost of ₹33,467 crore, and 10 new railway lines, 3 broad gauge railway lines and 9 double-track lines are being constructed.
Published – August 17, 2025 10:13 pm IST
