After Easter festivities, Tamil Nadu will see a series of agitations as the two major political parties in the state have decided to go ahead with all kinds of protests to force the Union Government to abide by the Supreme Court order on Cauvery. “The ruling AIADMK will undertake a day-long fast to urge the Centre to immediately constitute the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee as directed by the Supreme Court in its February 16 order,” said deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam, who is also the chief coordinator of the AIADMK.
Meanwhile, the opposition DMK will extend its agitation by showing black flags to Prime Minister Narendra Modi whenever the latter comes calling to Tamil Nadu. Panneerselvam was addressing a public function held in Madurai on Friday where 120 young couples got married under the auspices of Amma Peravai, one of the leading frontal organisations of the AIADMK. The mass marriage was held to mark the 70th birth anniversary of Amma J Jayaalithaa, former chief minister and party supremo who breathed her last in December 2016. Panneerselvam said the state-wide hunger agitation would have a major impact on the country as well as on the Union Government. “This is our way of telling the world about our commitment in protecting the rights of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Chief Minister Edappady Palanisamy, who presided over the function and conducted the kanyaa daan, was scathing in his attack on the DMK. “The opposition paty and its leader allege that the AIADMK government was not pressurising the central government effectively to force it constitute the Cauvery Management Board. “The parliament has not functioned for the last 17 days because of the agitation and demonstration by our MPs. What has the DMK done when it was in the Union Government during the 2004 to 2014 periodIJ It did not bother to force the then UPA government to notify the 2007 Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal Award. It was our Amma (read Jayalalithaa) who made the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh notify the same in the Government Gazette in 2013,” said Palaniswamy. He also pointed out that the DMK was more interested in pocketing high-profile ministries in that government instead of protecting the rights of Tamil Nadu.
The DMK, which held a day-long meeting of its district and state-level office bearers in Chennai on Friday, decided to intensify its agitation against the “callous attitude” of the Centre towards Tamil Nadu.
“The party will stage a black flag demonstration against Prime Minister Narendra Modi whenever he comes to the state,” said MK Stalin, working president of the party after the brain-storming session. Interestingly, the Prime Minister is expected to visit Chennai on April 11 to declare open the Defence Expo being held by the Union defence ministry as part of the Defence Quadrilateral Project to elevate Tamil Nadu as one of the major defence production hubs in the country. Nearly 300 global and national industries are taking part in this event. Stalin said his party would convene an-all party meeting to discuss the course of action in the agitation demanding the constitution of the CMB.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar, on Friday, confirmed that the state government would approach the Supreme Court regarding the CMB. However, he refused to divulge details about the kind of petition the government was planning to move.
