Palaniswami Urges Vijay to Drop ₹1,200-Crore Secretariat Plan at Pattinapakkam

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has urged the TVK-led State government to abandon its plan to build a new Assembly-Secretariat complex at Pattinapakkam, in the Foreshore Estate area, describing the proposal as unnecessary at a time of acute financial strain.

In a statement issued on Friday, Mr. Palaniswami said the government was grappling with heavy debt and a severe shortage of funds, even as issues concerning farmers and pressing social matters demanded its immediate attention. Under these circumstances, he argued, a Secretariat complex costing ₹1,200 crore was not essential.

The AIADMK leader also flagged the choice of location, noting that the proposed site is a congested area marked by traffic bottlenecks, residential localities of fishing communities and schools. He recalled that the party's founder, M.G. Ramachandran, and his successor, Jayalalithaa, had, during their tenures as Chief Minister, planned such a complex at locations free of space constraints and traffic snarls.

Mr. Palaniswami clarified that he was not opposed to the project in principle. He said the government could take up the complex at a site that did not inconvenience the public once its financial position improved. He appealed to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to drop the proposal.