Palaniswami termed the TVK government’s move to build a new assembly and secretariat complex “unnecessary”

Edappadi K. Palaniswami. File | Photo credit: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Friday (September 11, 2026) termed the TVK-led state government’s move to build an assembly and secretariat complex at Pattinapakkam (Foreshore Estate) as “necessary”.

In a statement, Mr. Palaniswami said that when the government was in the midst of severe debt and facing an acute shortage of funds, with farmers’ problems and social issues requiring immediate government attention, the Secretariat complex at a cost of ₹1,200 crore “was not necessary”.

Pointing out that the proposed site was a “congested area” marked by traffic bottlenecks, residential sites of fishing communities and schools, the AIADMK leader recalled that AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran, as Chief Minister, and his successor, Jayalalithaa, had planned to build such a complex in places where there were no spatial constraints and traffic congestion.

Explaining that he was not against the project as such, Mr. Palaniswami said that once its financial situation improved, the government could consider building the proposed complex at a site that did not cause any problems to the people. He appealed to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to drop the proposal.

Published – 11 Sep 2026 16:18 IST