Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan has criticised the Budget for failing to provide any promises or financial allocations for Tamil Nadu, specifically highlighting the exclusion of significant historical sites like Keeladi.
While addressing the media outside Parliament in New Delhi, he said the Budget prioritised archaeological locations in Gujarat and Haryana while systematically ignoring the historical evidence and heritage found in Tamil Nadu.
He further contended that the initiative to train 10,000 tourist guides across 20 iconic sites was biased, as it focused exclusively on religious and cultural venues while omitting historical landmarks to advance specific Hindutva agenda.
Mr. Venkatesan also pointed at disparity in healthcare funding, noting that the Budget allocated resources for Ayurveda but overlooked the Siddha system of medicine.
âAlthough a National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) had been planned for Madurai, the government sidelined the city to approve establishments in three other States instead,â he added.
Stating that Tamil Nadu was being exploited rather than supported, he alleged that the proposed Rare Earth Corridors were designed to extract local minerals while other vital sectors remained neglected.
Analysing the railway sector, he noted that in the massive âč2.78 lakh-crore investment â including âč36,721 crore for new lines and âč37,750 crore for doubling projects â T.N. had been entirely left out.
Although the Minister announced thousands of kilometres of new and double tracks for the coming year, not a single project among them was slated for the State, he said.
Published â February 01, 2026 09:57 pm IST
