Modi-Jaya spat heats up TN poll scene

The electoral scene in Tamil Nadu heated up on Sunday with Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, and AIADMK general secretary 

J Jayalalithaa trading charges and counter charges on various issues.

While Modi blamed both the Dravidian majors for the woes faced by the people of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa asked the voters to ensure that the BJP, the Congress and the DMK candidates forfeit their securities in the April 24 election to lok Sabha for letting down the interests of Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery River Water issue.

Modi, addressing a mammoth election rally at Chennai on Sunday told the people of Tamil Nadu that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consisting of seven political parties was a viable alternative which could save the State from the misrule of the Dravidian majors viz the AIADMK and the DMK.

“Both the DMK and the AIADMK are interested only in mutual destruction. The AIADMK rules the State for five years and it tries to annihilate the DMK. The DMK which assumes power for the next five years tries to finish off the AIADMK. While these two parties are only interested in mutually destructing each other, people are forced to suffer a lot of hardship. The power and water shortage faced by the people of Tamil Nadu are a fall out of this mutual annihilation,” charged Modi.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate  came down heavily on both the AIADMK and the DMK though he did not mention any of the leaders by name. Modi also taunted Mr Recounting Minister (read P Chidambaram) who ran away from the electoral battlefield even before the bugle was sounded. He said the Union Finance Minister was cheating the country by claiming that he has set apart `1000 crore to the Nirbhaya Fund to ensure the safety of women. “Though the number of rapes and assaults on women continue to increase day by day under the UPA rule, not a single victim has been offered any  assistance by the UPA Government,” charged Modi.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in an election rally at Karur said  that the BJP was no different from the Congress. Her ire follows the failure of the BJP to include the Cauvery River Water Dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in its 2014 election manifesto. Interestingly, this is the first time in the run up to the 2014 election Jayalalithaa has blasted the BJP. The lefts, the CPI(M) and the CPI, had deserted the AIADMK because of Jayalalithaa’s  failure to criticise and blast Narendra  Modi.

“With an eye on the lok Sabha seats in the election, the BJP has not even mentioned the Cauvery River water issue in its 2014 Manifesto. The Congress, the DMK and the BJP has betrayed Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery River Water Issue. You  should teach these parties a lesson in the April 24 election. They should lose their deposits in the  election,” said Jayalalithaa while addressing election rally at Karur.

Jayalalithaa also said that she withdrew support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA alliance in 1999 because of its failure to implement the interim order of the Cauvery Tribunal. “Though I had pleaded with the NDA Government to implement  the interim order, it fell on deaf ears and I withdrew my support,” said the AIADMK leader.

Cauvery River, which originates in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu and Pudussery before joining the Bay of Bengal, is described as Tamil Nadu’s lifeline  as the farmers of the Cauvery Delta, spread across five districts of the State are dependent on the Cauvery water for their farming operations as well as drinking water purposes. Though the Cauvery Tribunal has ruled that Karnataka should release fixed quantity of water to Tamil Nadu every year, the Karnataka government  ignores the verdict causing hardship to the Delta farmers.

Political chroniclers chose to differ with Jayalalithaa’s contention that she withdrew support to the NDA government in 1999 on Cauvery Issue. She had demanded  transfer of a number of officials from the finance ministry whom she was suspecting of persecuting her on charges of corruption.