Tungsten row: Calling AIADMK’s support to Mining Act amendment a betrayal, CM Stalin says EPS must learn to speak truth from now

CHENNAI: Armed with video evidence of the AIADMK supporting the amendment to the Mines & Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act) of 1957 in the Parliament that allowed the Union government to unilaterally auction Tungsten mining in Madurai, Chief Minister MK Stalin hit back at Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami and said that the LoP must learn to speak the truth at least from now.

Describing the support extended by the AIADMK to the 2023 Bill tabled in the Parliament to amend the mining Act of 1957 as a ‘betrayal’, Stalin said, “After video evidence of the AIADMK’s betrayal in the Parliament on the Madurai Tungsten issue surfaced, Thambidurai (AIADMK's MP in the Rajya Sabha) has attempted to sweep it under the carpet by arguing that he only supported the Bill and not the Tungsten project in Madurai.”

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Hours after EPS put his government on the back foot in the State Assembly by referring to the 'silence' of the DMK government for 10 months since the floating of the project tender in February this year, Chief Minister Stalin, in a message posted on his X handle on Monday night, said, “It was the amendment Bill passed with the support of the AIADMK which snatched the tungsten mining auction rights from the state government and gave it to the Modi government. The Bill was supported by the AIADMK and opposed by the DMK.

“A new chapter in AIADMK's serial betrayal saga has been exposed,” Stalin remarked, adding that the 'drama of the AIADMK' which supported the Bill in Delhi, where it should actually have opposed, wouldn't sell.

“Which amendment did Thambidurai support? Will the AIADMK’s support to usurping state rights and empowering the union government not qualify for betrayal? After all this, who are you trying to deceive here?” the CM wondered.

“EPS must learn to speak the truth at least from now. The betrayal meted out by the AIADMK to the people of Madurai is evident from Parliamentary records,” said Stalin, while quote-tweeting a video shared by CPM MP Su Venkatesan showing AIADMK’s alleged support to the amendment Bill in the Parliament last year. One of the major reforms proposed in the Bill was encouraging the private sector in exploration of critical and deep-seated minerals.

Asserting that Thambidurai had supported the amendment Bill, thus enabling only the Union government to auction critical minerals like tungsten, Chief Minister Stalin said, “The Tamil Nadu government did not come forward to set up a tungsten mine in Arittapatti. While it was the same situation in many other states, the AIADMK had supported the amendment allowing only the Union government to conduct auctions. The Union government auctioned the Arittapatti tungsten mine only on that basis," he added in his post.

War of words between Stalin-EPS continues on social media

In response to Stalin's X post, Palaniswami posted a message stating that the Union government’s amendment was introduced to implement the auction method to prevent corruption, and that Thambidurai had spoken in support of the auction method.

The AIADMK chief pointed out that Thambidurai had not commented on tungsten mining.

Moreover, he highlighted that the DMK MPs had not objected to the amendment in the Parliament. "Chief Minister Stalin distorted the truth and posted false information about me. It is a shameful act,” he condemned.