A political war of words has erupted between the BJP and the DMK over railway budget allocations to Tamil Nadu, after DMK MP Kanimozhi alleged that the state had been sidelined in Union Government funding priorities.
The controversy began after a post highlighting railway budget allocations noted that Maharashtra had received the highest outlay, nearly ₹24,000 crore, under the Union Budget 2026–27 for railway projects.
#Maharashtra
MH gets highest budgetary allocation of ₹24k cr in #Budget2026 for Railway Projects pic.twitter.com/IhNrilDrP9— Maharashtra Progress Tracking (@abhirammodak) February 3, 2026
Reacting to the figures, Kanimozhi wrote “Tamil Nadu, a key contributor to India’s growth, receives less than one-third of Maharashtra’s Railway Budget allocation, clearly revealing the Union Government’s skewed priorities. BJP seeks the Tamil people’s votes, but not their development.”
Tamil Nadu, a key contributor to India’s growth, receives less than one-third of Maharashtra’s Railway Budget allocation, clearly revealing the Union Government’s skewed priorities.
BJP seeks the Tamil people’s votes, but not their development. https://t.co/35GhOh6pqB
— Kanimozhi (கனிமொழி) (@KanimozhiDMK) February 5, 2026
Her remarks drew a sharp rebuttal from BJP leader K Annamalai, who accused the DMK of misrepresenting facts and deflecting responsibility for project delays.
Responding on social media, Annamalai wrote, “DMK MP Smt @KanimozhiDMK is ignorant of the facts, as always, and has no clue what is happening in Tamil Nadu under the Corrupt leadership of her brother & TN CM Thiru @mkstalin.
₹35,701 Crore worth of Railway projects are currently underway in Tamil Nadu, but their execution is delayed due to the Government of Tamil Nadu’s failure to expedite land acquisition. Of the 4,326 Hectares of land required to carry out these railway projects, the Tamil Nadu Government has, as of December 2025, acquired only 24% of the required land. There are plenty of projects that have been pending for land acquisition for almost 5 years now.
The same applies to the National Highway projects sanctioned for Tamil Nadu. The roadblocks deliberately imposed by the Corrupt DMK Government have caused exorbitant delays in the execution of the already sanctioned project. Instead of peddling lies all day, Smt Kanimozhi should ask her brother why there is a delay in acquiring lands to complete the already sanctioned projects.”
Supporting his claims, Annamalai cited parliamentary data and railway ministry documents indicating that multiple railway infrastructure works in Tamil Nadu, covering sanctioned track length of over 2,400 km were facing delays primarily due to land acquisition bottlenecks.
Official figures presented in Parliament also indicated that out of 4,326 hectares required for railway projects in Tamil Nadu, only about 1,052 hectares, roughly 24%, had been acquired as of late 2025, leaving a substantial portion pending.
DMK MP Smt @KanimozhiDMK is ignorant of the facts, as always, and has no clue what is happening in Tamil Nadu under the Corrupt leadership of her brother & TN CM Thiru @mkstalin.
₹35,701 Crore worth of Railway projects are currently underway in Tamil Nadu, but their execution… https://t.co/SDOlVmHXSn pic.twitter.com/yyEtsy1t8Y
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 5, 2026
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