CHENNAI, 23 JAN

The Centre's decision to annul the Tungsten mining in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district showed that it yielded to people's sentiments and the state government's determination over not allowing the project, Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Thursday.

Atleast from now onwards, the Centre should not auction the blocks for mining without the consent of the state government, he said.

"I had firmly stated that as long as I am the Chief Minister, no mining (activity) will be permitted #Tungsten!" the chief minister said in a social media post on 'X'.

He further said, "we passed a unanimous resolution in the Legislative Assembly against the project. The Union government has yielded to the sentiments of the people and the determination of the state government."

From now onwards, the Centre should not issue such mining auction notifications without the consent of the state government. And the opposition AIADMK should not support laws against state rights, Stalin said in the post.

Welcoming the move to nullify the mining project, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami termed it as a victory to the continuous struggle of the AIADMK members and the people of Melur.

"This is a great victory for the public who protested, and the AIADMK members who echoed their concerns in the Assembly demanding to 'stop tungsten mining and save Melur' besides the continuous initiatives taken by @AIADMKOfficial to expose the drama of the DMK government to get justice for the people of Melur," Palaniswami said in a post on 'X'.

He congratulated the people of Melur who had put up a fight for their rights and won.

"The conspiracies of the @mkstalin model DMK government, which tried to deceive the people by playing a dual role in the tungsten mining issue, have been put to an end. People's power finally prevailed and their struggle recognised as the mining has been nullified by the central government," Palaniswami said.

Posting a statement on the announcement to annul the auction of Nayakkarpatti Tungsten mineral block, on 'X', BJP state chief K Annamalai said he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the gesture.

"On behalf of the people of Madurai Melur and the people of Tamil Nadu, we express our gratitude to our Honorable Prime Minister of India, @narendramodi for considering the request of our hard-working farmers and canceling the tungsten mineral mining auction in the villages of Melur," he said.

The decision to cancel has reaffirmed the Prime Minister's concern for the welfare of our farmers. It also showed that the PM was true to his word in protecting the livelihood of farmers.

"We once again thank our Union Minister for Coal and Mines @kishanreddybjp for meeting the Madurai Melur Ambalakkars and farmers' representative group and considering their request," Annamalai further said.

Earlier speaking to reporters at the airport here, Annamalai said Modi has always stood with farmers and the Tamil people. "This is once again a reiteration, a commitment-- the central government, PM Modi will always stand with Tamil brothers and sisters. And today we expect the happiest news. It will be a historic day for the farmers and the people around the Melur area," he said.

Annamalai led a delegation of village heads in and around Melur to meet Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on 22 December and had indicated the Centre could scrap the project, saying a "happy news" was expected on Thursday.

Terming the cancellation as a victory for the people, and Assembly resolution, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai said the revocation of the tungsten mining thwarted the efforts of the BJP government at the Centre to support corporates.