The Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed a heated debate regarding the ruling TVK government’s decision to abandon the proposed Parandur airport project. Law Minister Nirmal Kumar took the floor to defend the government’s stance, claiming that the previous DMK administration had advanced the airport plan primarily to benefit investors associated with ‘black money’ in the area surrounding the proposed site. This assertion sparked a broader political confrontation, focusing on the implications for two influential sons-in-law involved in the controversy.
She also claimed that her minister son-in-law Aadhaav Arjuna was no longer involved in the lottery business. The opposition DMK has criticised the government’s decision, arguing that scrapping an already delayed project would hurt Tamil Nadu’s development and investment prospects. The party has warned that uncertainty over major infrastructure projects could prompt new investors to look at neighbouring states. “We will use the acquired land for alternate industrial purposes without affecting the people.
Former Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu hit back, saying that if the government was proposing a new airport site, he too could question whether it was being done for the benefit of the “Lottery Mapillai” – a tacit reference to PWD Minister Aadhaav Arjuna, whose wife Daisy is the daughter of lottery businessman Santiago Martin. AIADMK MLA Leema Rose, who is Daisy’s mother and Aadhaav Arjuna’s mother-in-law, appealed to legislators to spare her husband, who she said was not in politics. Instead of proceeding with the Parandur project, Vijay’s government has said it plans to increase the passenger-handling capacity of Chennai airport by adding a fifth terminal. The government would also identify another site for the airport which would not require large scale displacement or destruction of water bodies, which the opposition says is impossible. Industries Minister S Keerthana said the land acquired for the project could be put to alternative industrial use without affecting the people. There will be industrial and economic development besides employment opportunities,” she said. It has become a clash between the government’s development-versus-environment argument and the opposition’s concerns over infrastructure and investment – with the “G Square Mapillai” versus “Lottery Mapillai” exchange adding an unusual political subplot to the Assembly battle.
