TN Assembly urges Centre to cancel Madurai tungsten mining rights

CHENNAI: The controversial tungsten mining project in Madurai took the Assembly by storm on Monday with the ruling DMK and Opposition AIADMK firing verbal volleys at each other at such intensity that CM Stalin assured the House that he would not hold his post (of Chief Minister) if a situation arose for permitting the project in Tamil Nadu. LoP Edappadi K Palaniswami, however, questioned the DMK government's inaction for 10 months since the Centre floated a tender for the project in February 2024.

Opening his tirade against the treasury benches by questioning the lack of details on the letters written by state mining minister Duraimurugan in October 2023 and the November 2023 reply from his central counterpart, Palaniswami said the DMK, which boasts of having a large number of MPs, must have stalled the Parliament against the mining amendment law that threatened to infringe the rights of the State.

Joining the issue, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the State categorically registered its opposition as soon as the Centre proposed to amend the mining Act, which it passed with its majority in the Parliament. Speaker M Appavu intervened and said many bills were passed in the Parliament without debate.

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An unrelenting EPS wondered why the State did not write any letter since the Centre floated tenders in February 2024 till the CM wrote to the PM in November 2024. "If you had written in February as soon as the GoI floated the tender, the situation would not have escalated to such an extent. For 10 months, this government remained silent. The Union Mines ministry responded to the CM's letter and said it received no opposition from the state government. There is no point speaking here. It must be opposed strongly in the Parliament."

Duraimurugan said, "You have been a Chief Minister yourself. When resolutions are moved in the House, documents will not be produced. I can also speak loud like you (LoP)." Referring to the clauses of the amended central mining Act which allow only the GoI to auction the critical and strategic minerals and the State to only lease the real estate, the minister said the rights of the State were being trampled upon.

'Centre cannot implement tungsten project till I remain CM'

Joining the debate, Chief Minister MK Stalin said, "Don't think you achieved something by speaking aloud. We have periodically written letters. We have registered our condemnation in the Parliament. Our minister visited the protesters and assured them such a resolution would be moved in the Assembly.

"Reports of the Chief Minister writing to the PM have been widely reported. How can you argue that you are not aware of it?" Duraimurugan responded in his inimitable sarcastic style, forcing an agitated EPS to wonder, "Should we not seek clarification? Why should we even speak if our statements are expunged?

"The law (amendment) was not passed with our support. Our MPs have opposed it vehemently in the Parliament. It has been registered in the Parliament. How can we stop it when they have a majority? Tell us how it can be done. You have also claimed many times that you have echoed your views there (Parliament). Were you able to stop the resolutions adopted in the Parliament? We have moved a resolution because the letters written to them did not fetch results.

"No matter what, the central scheme will not happen in Tamil Nadu. We will stop it. If such a situation arose (the scheme implementation), I would not remain in the post of the state Chief Minister. Hence, support the resolution."

Emphasizing that the AIADMK will oppose any project detrimental to the interest of the state people, EPS retired to his seat after announcing the support of the party to the government resolution

Earlier, speaking on the resolution, BJP legislature party leader Nainar Nagendran said the state government would have done well to raise objections to the 1.96 sq km of the 20 sq km earmarked for the project long ago. Unwilling to categorically state either his support or opposition to the resolution,

Nagendran said the project was auctioned by the Union government only after excluding the 1.96 sq km. The Chief Minister intervened and sought to know if the state BJP supported or opposed the resolution. The BJP leader preferred not to respond in binary to the CM's query.