Tamil Nadu’s eternal enemies, rivals, opponents and leaders who do not see eye-to-eye on any issues came together on Thursday and had a whole day discussion in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy. In a rare gesture, all of them had a sumptuous meal during the lunch-break which saw leader of the Opposition and DMK leader MK Stalin sharing the table with the Chief Minister and other Ministerial colleagues.
The ambience was that of friendship and consensus. It was Mother Cauery which brought together the eternal enemies, a rate gesture in a State known for rigid party affiliations and rival leaders who rarely exchange even glances at each other.
The all party meeting convened by Edappady Palaniswamy turned out to be a get together packed with camaraderie and joy. The meeting unanimously decided to send a delegation of all political parties and farmers’ unions in Tamil Nadu to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and convince him about the difficulties faced by the farmers in the State because of Karnataka’s refusal to part with the Cauvery River water as per the directive of the Supreme Court.
“We were unanimous in our stance that the Cauvery Management Board should be constituted at the earliest so that Tamil Nadu gets its due share of water,” said Stalin while speaking to reporters after the marathon meeting held at Fort Saint George (Tamil Nadu’ seat of power). He said two resolutions were unanimously passed in the meeting about despatching a delegation to the national capital and also the necessity to constitute the CMB consisting of senior officials from the Centre and the riparian States. The Communists were highly critical of the Centre for soft-pedalling the constitution of Cauvery Management Board. “We are worried over the kind of politics played by the BJP because of its concern over the electoral prospects in Karnataka which goes to the polls soon,” said K Balakrishnan, the newly appointed secretary of the Tamil Nadu CPI(M).