chennai:

Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai on Sunday slammed another promise made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin – to build a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Coimbatore.

Reacting to Mr Stalin’s statement, Mr Annamalai called the statement an “election gimmick” and reminded him that the DMK must first fulfill its 511 poll promises before making new ones. He said the DMK took this promise after feeling the defeat in the Coimbatore constituency.

Mr Annamalai said on .”

He said the DMK’s electoral stunts could not fool the youth and sports lovers of Coimbatore as they had become increasingly wary.

“DMK is a party that has not been able to build a new bus terminal in Coimbatore for the past 3 years; today it has promised to build a stadium that should be considered the joke of the year and deserves the slow applause of the people of Coimbatore,” added Mr. Doannamalai.

We would like to remind TN CM Thiru @mkstalin His 511 poll promises for 2021, which he first focused on and then made further after feeling defeated, remain unfulfilled.

DMK’s election stunt cannot fool Coimbatore’s youth and sports enthusiasts… https://t.co/8Qpr0fVzmz

— K.Annamalai (Modi family) (@annamalai_k) April 7, 2024

Notably, Mr. Annamalai is contesting from the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat and his comments were in response to Mr. Stalin’s recent promise as part of his party’s (DMK) Lok Sabha election manifesto. Among them was the promise to build a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Coimbatore.

On March 28, Mr. Annamalai filed his nomination from the Coimbatore Assembly constituency.

Mr. Annamalai, an IPS cadre officer in Karnataka, resigned in 2019 and joined the BJP in 2020. A year later, he was appointed state president of the BJP.

DMK President Mr Stalin shared a post by Minister of State for Industries TRB Rajaa on A state-of-the-art cricket stadium is being set up in Coimbatore with the active participation of the sports-loving people of Coimbatore. As our Minister TRB Rajaa emphasized, the stadium aims to be the first state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Tamil Nadu The iconic MAC Stadium, the second international standard cricket stadium after the Chennai Cricket Stadium. Our government and Sports Minister Uda Stalin are committed to nurturing talent and strengthening sports infrastructure in Tamil Nadu.”

As a sports and cricket lover, I would like to add one more promise to our election manifesto #Elections2024:

🏏🏟️We will work towards setting up a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Coimbatore with the active participation of people who love sports… https://t.co/B6rpHJKSBI

— MKStalin (@mkstalin) April 7, 2024

In his post, Minister TRB Rajaa emphasized that Coimbatore and Tamil Nadu need a big push for sports infrastructure.

“Dream big for Tamil Nadu cricket! Over the past few days, as we campaigned across Coimbatore, we met many young people who are passionate about the sport. Coimbatore has The passion for all sports including athletics, shooting, racing, football, skating, equestrian and especially cricket is unparalleled. It is home to the owners of 3 TNPL teams and many growing national boards The stars are from western Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Mr Raja said the stadium would redefine global cricket standards and become the most sustainably built, state-of-the-art stadium in the world.

“It is potentially a net zero stadium which will not only boost our local cricket ecosystem (to which we will add a small pitch) but will also become a beacon of green innovation, water conservation and climate awareness. We respectfully ask the hon. MP Chief Minister Stalin Awargarh has brought this landmark sports infrastructure to life, setting new global benchmarks and nurturing our rich sports talent,” he added.

He also said that Coimbatore and Tamil Nadu as a whole need a big boost in sports infrastructure.

“This is exactly what our Honorable Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Thiru Udhay Stalin has been building towards over the past year! Given the amazing talent in and around Kovai and the real need To build another world-class cricket stadium in TN, I request the honorable chief minister Thiru MK Stalin avargal to build a new world-class multi-purpose Coimbatore International Cricket Stadium or CICS,” he added.

Coimbatore is one of the major constituencies in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has fielded Ganapathi P Kumar, while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (AIADMK) has nominated Singai Ramachandran to contest from Coimbatore.

All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will go to polls in the first phase of the general election on April 19 and counting of votes, among other phases, is scheduled to take place on June 4.

In 2019, the DMK swept the Lok Sabha polls in the state, winning 23 Lok Sabha seats and garnering the largest share of 33.2 per cent in the total vote.

Its ruling ally, the Congress Party, won eight seats, accounting for 12.9% of the total votes cast, while the Communist Party of India won two seats. CPI(M) and IUML won one seat each while the remaining two seats were won by independents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)