Groundwork laid during our govt: DMK leader discredits Vijay's investment boast

Former Tamil Nadu minister TRB Rajaa has raised questions on the outcomes of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's recent United Kingdom investment visit, claiming that the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) signed during the trip were largely the result of an investment pipeline established by the previous DMK government.He objected to the TVK-led state government presenting the investments as an outcome of its foreign outreach.Speaking to India Today, the DMK leader said there was "nothing new" in the investments announced during the CM's visit and claimed that the groundwork for several of the agreements had already been laid during MK Stalin's tenure.The Tamil Nadu government has said that CM Vijay's six-day UK mission resulted in investment commitments of around Rs 15,300 crore, with more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs expected. The largest commitment came from Samvardhana Motherson International and its European and UK-based joint-venture entities, involving around Rs 11,000 crore.That agreement was another major point raised by Rajaa. The ex-industries minister wondered why the MoU was signed in the presence of a relatively junior-level marketing representative from the company."Why didn't [Motherson's] senior leadership accompany CM for this?" Rajaa questioned.He also said that Stalin's overseas visits had involved interactions with Tamil people, contrasting the engagements to what he described as the inconvenience caused to people during Vijay's visit."People were put into inconvenience in the UK," Rajaa claimed.At the same time, he said Tamil Nadu was an "extremely resilient state" and argued that it would continue to attract investments irrespective of the political leadership in power.- EndsPublished On: Sep 19, 2026 14:42 IST