Parandur airport should be established on partnership model: Selvaperunthagai

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai has urged the Central government to consider applying a partnership model while establishing the Parandur airport, ensuring that those who give away their land for the project will receive a share of the income once the airport is opened.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai has urged the Central government to consider applying a partnership model while establishing the Parandur airport, ensuring that those who give away their land for the project will receive a share of the income once the airport is opened.

Addressing the media in Erode on Wednesday (January 22, 2025), he said the proposed project fell within his constituency Sriperumbudur and posed a significant loss to the farming community. He assured his support to the people affected by the project and emphasised that it was proposed by the AIADMK government, not the DMK. “The airport should be developed without harming farmers,” he said, adding that landowners should be treated as shareholders in the project.

Mr. Selvaperunthagai criticised Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator Seeman for making provocative remarks against Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy. Politics in the State cannot move forward by sidelining Periyar, he said.

Regarding the Opposition parties’ boycott of the Erode (East) Assembly byelection, citing the ruling DMK’s alleged use of money to win the 2023 bypoll, Mr. Selvaperunthagai said, “People will not be influenced by money, they will fulfil their democratic duty based on their own decisions.” Democracy is thriving in the State Assembly, with Chief Minister M.K. Stalin listening to the views of the political parties and taking action. However, in Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statements were not accepted by the BJP, he claimed.

Earlier, Mr. Selvaperuthagai participated in a demonstration condemning the filing of a case against Rahul Gandhi in Guwahati for allegedly “provoking a rebellion” against the Indian State.

Later, Mr. Selvaperunthagai, along with Congress functionaries and Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthusamy, campaigned for INDIA bloc candidate V.C. Chandhirakumar in the constituency.