DMK vs TVK Credit War Over Periyar Library In Coimbatore

The inauguration of the Rs 300-crore Periyar Library and Science Centre in Coimbatore has triggered a political battle over who deserves credit for public projects, with the DMK's MK Stalin asserting that his government's legacy will continue to benefit Tamil Nadu for years and TVK minister Aadhav Arjuna accusing the former chief minister of being unable to accept that another government is carrying forward his administration's work.

At the heart of the exchange is a familiar political question: should credit for a public project go to the government that conceived and built it, or to the government that completes and inaugurates it?

Stalin, who announced the seven-storey facility in the 2024-25 Budget and laid its foundation stone in November 2024, said he was proud to have planned and created the centre. The complex, spread across nearly 1.98 lakh square feet, houses a library, science facilities, a space-themed attraction and other learning facilities intended to nurture scientific temper and reading among young people.

Taking a swipe at the new TVK government, Stalin said it could spend years inaugurating projects left behind by the DMK.

"Who inaugurates it is not the achievement. The real achievement lies in planning and creating it," was the thrust of his argument.

He cited the Periyar centre alongside other projects he said were conceived under the DMK government, including the Kamarajar Library in Tiruchi, the Quaid-e-Millath Library in Tirunelveli, the Bharathidasan Knowledge Centre in Salem and the Anjalai Ammal Knowledge Centre planned in Cuddalore.

Stalin also pointed to infrastructure projects, including the remaining stretches of Chennai Metro Phase II, the bridge connecting Saidapet and Teynampet, and the Kalaignar International Convention Centre at Muttukadu, arguing that the DMK had laid a strong foundation across districts.

For the DMK, the argument is about more than a library. Stalin is seeking to establish that the party's development agenda and investments remain visible even after its electoral defeat, and that the new government is benefiting from its work.

Also read: "Somersault Bhama": MK Stalin's Comment Invites TVK's Body-Shaming Charge

Aadhav's Counter: Stalin Did Same With AIADMK Projects

Aadhav Arjuna rejected Stalin's claim to exclusive credit, arguing that public projects emerge from people's needs and are funded by taxpayers, rather than being the personal creations of any one political leader.

"What is wrong with a new government continuing the previous government's schemes without vendetta?" was the central question posed by the TVK minister.

Aadhav listed several projects initiated under the AIADMK government between 2016 and 2021 that Stalin or other DMK leaders inaugurated after the party returned to power.

These included the Athikadavu-Avinashi water supply project; eleven government medical colleges established across Tamil Nadu; Coimbatore Medical College infrastructure upgrades and speciality facilities; the Trichy Road flyover in Coimbatore; the Ukkadam-Athupalam flyover in Coimbatore; the Kavundampalayam flyover in Coimbatore; Ooty Government Medical College and hospital facilities; and the 700-bed multispeciality hospital complex with tribal healthcare facilities.

Aadhav's argument was that Stalin had followed the same practice he was now criticising - completing or inaugurating projects initiated by his predecessor and presenting them as achievements of his own government.

He also pointed to the continuation of the Amma Unavagam canteens, introduced under the AIADMK, and the DMK's breakfast scheme under the TVK government, saying schemes should be judged by their public benefit rather than their political origin.

Coimbatore's Political Significance

The exchange carries particular significance in western Tamil Nadu, where Coimbatore and the wider Kongu region have traditionally been strongholds of the AIADMK and its allies. 

The DMK has long sought to expand its political footprint in this belt, while the TVK is attempting to establish itself as the new political alternative to the AIADMK.

In the recent Dharapuram by-election, the TVK fielded Sathyabhama, who had resigned as an AIADMK MLA and joined Vijay's party. She won the contest, reinforcing the TVK's efforts to attract AIADMK leaders and voters. Six AIADMK MLAs have already resigned and switched to the TVK, alongside several other leaders.

The TVK is increasingly positioning itself as the inheritor of the AIADMK's political space, even as it takes over the administration of a state whose public infrastructure and welfare schemes were built across successive governments.

The Periyar centre therefore offers the ruling party an opportunity to demonstrate continuity in governance while also claiming its own mandate to put public assets to use. Vijay inaugurated the facility and toured the complex, interacting with schoolchildren visiting the library. Aadhav emphasised that the Chief Minister had done so without making a political spectacle of the occasion.

Turning his attack on Stalin, Aadhav argued that if voters had genuinely credited the former Chief Minister with the projects he now claims, they would have re-elected him. He accused Stalin of jealousy and of continuing to take personal credit for government initiatives even after the DMK's electoral defeat.

The contrast between the two statements is clear. Stalin wants the DMK remembered as the government that conceived and built the projects; Aadhav wants the TVK seen as a government confident enough to continue useful schemes without claiming that every public asset is the creation of one leader.

In a state where successive governments routinely inaugurate or dump projects initiated by their predecessors, the Periyar Library dispute has become a contest over political ownership of development - and over which party can persuade voters that its contribution deserves the credit.