Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M.K. Stalin made an interesting, tempting addition to their election poll promises for Coimbatore on Sunday. Next to Chennai, the DMK government has promised to establish a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Coimbatore.
Replying to a tweet on X by Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister and Coimbatore constituency poll in-charge T.R.B. Rajaa, Stalin said, “As a sports and cricket enthusiast, I would like to add one more promise to our election manifesto for #Elections2024: We will make efforts to establish a state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Coimbatore, with the active participation of the sports loving people of #Coimbatore.”
Stalin said the state government is committed to nurturing sporting talent and enhancing sports infrastructure in Tamil Nadu. “As highlighted by our Minister @TRBRajaa, this stadium aims to be Tamil Nadu's second international-standard cricket venue after Chennai's iconic MAC stadium. Our government and Sports Minister @Udhaystalin are committed to nurturing talent and enhancing sports infrastructure in Tamil Nadu,” the chief minister tweeted. The chief minister’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin is Tamil Nadu’s sports minister.
Rajaa said during election campaigning in Coimbatore, he came across many passionate sportsmen. “Coimbatore's enthusiasm for varied sports including athletics, shooting, car racing, football, skating, equestrian sports amongst others and especially cricket, is unmatched. It is home to the owners of 3 #TNPL teams, and many of the growing national cricket stars are from Western TN,” Rajaa tweeted.
Rajaa said there was a genuine need for another world-class cricket stadium in Tamil Nadu and urged the chief minister to establish a multi-purpose cricket stadium of international standards in Coimbatore. “It could be a #netzero stadium, which will not only boost our local cricket ecosystem, to which we will add #SmallTurfGrounds, but also serve as a beacon of #green innovation, water-conservation and climate-consciousness,” Rajaa tweeted.
In terms of sports infrastructure, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu’s second biggest city after Chennai has got an auto racing track in Chettipalayam and a multi-purpose stadium called Nehru stadium in the city. The stadium used to host i-league football matches and Coimbatore is a key venue for Tamil Nadu Premier League matches.
Bharatiya Janata Party State President K. Annamalai is contesting Lok Sabha polls from the Coimbatore constituency. The ruling DMK has fielded P. Ganapathy Rajkumar and AIADMK has fielded Singai G. Ramachandran.
