Friday’s dawn-to-dusk bandh called by various wings of farmers, traders and Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu against the attacks on Tamils by Kannadigas in neighbouring Karnataka went of peacefully barring some minor incidents like pelting of stones. Though most of the shops and business establishments in suburban Chennai remained shut, life remained by and large peaceful and normal in the metropolis. Buses and cars were plying since morning though some auto rickshaw unions preferred to keep off the roads. The Opposition parties blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa for the Cauvery mess.
It was business as usual for Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who had an hour-long meeting with Union Minister of State for Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan to discuss various infrastructure development projects of the State. She was assisted by senior Government officials as well as members of her Council of Ministers.
Speaking to journalists Radhakrishnan complimented Jayalalithaa for the way she is handling the Cauvery issue. MK Stalin and Kanimozhi, DMK chief Karunanidhi’s children courted arrest by staging demonstrations in two different locations in Chennai. Both of them blamed Modi and Jayalalithaa for the imbroglio. Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, the shut down was near total in the Cauvery Delta Districts (Tiruchirappilli, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Cuddalore) with most of the shops remaining shut and the lorries staying off the roads.
MDMK leader Vaiko, who is in political wilderness following the rout of his party in the Assembly election, chose Tiruchi to hold a demonstration against the Centre for Karnataka’s refusal to share the Cauvery waters with TN.