Marumalarchi Makkal Iyakkam (MMI) founder V. Eswaran on Monday accused the Centre and the BJP of having betrayed Coimbatore by rejecting the revised proposal of the Tamil Nadu government for a Metro Rail system for the city.
He said the BJP promised to bring a Metro Rail project for the city in its election manifesto for Coimbatore in the run-up to Lok Sabha election in 2024. BJP leader Vanathi Srinivasan had stated that the project would be implemented if the NDA came to power. The project is now being denied simply because the party lost in Coimbatore, alleged Mr. Eswaran at a protest organised by MMI in front of the Income Tax office at Race Course in Coimbatore on Monday, condemning the Centre for declining Metro Rail proposal for the city.
Mr. Eswaran claimed that Coimbatore was among the 21 cities for which the Centre announced Metro Rail projects in 2011. Coimbatore was placed 16th, Kochi 17th and Patna 17th in the list. While a Metro project has already been implemented in cities like Kochi and Patna, Coimbatore has not even been granted permission. He alleged that money of taxpayers from Coimbatore was being used to develop other cities such as Agra, Patna and Kochi.
Mr. Eswaran stated that black flags will be shown to any Union Minister visiting Coimbatore from now on and declared that MMI will go to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar to stage a protest.
The police detained and removed around 30 persons who staged the protest and raised slogans against the Prime Minister and the Centre.
Published - July 27, 2026 07:19 pm IST