Cracks appeared in the four-party People’s Welfare Front on Monday for the first time since its formation over the participation of constituent parties in an all-party meeting convened by the DMK on the Cauvery water issue.
While the VCK appeared to be keen on attending the meeting to be held on Tuesday morning at the DMK’s headquarters Anna Arivalayam, the MDMK and CPI-M were opposed to it. Though sources in the PWF said that another constituent, the CPI, was not inclined to attend, the party’s state secretary R. Mutharasan said he would take a call only on Tuesday morning as he was scheduled to attend meetings in connection with this late into Monday night.
On Monday morning, VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan held discussions with members of his party’s high-level organising committee where a majority of them expressed the view that the party must attend the meeting convened by the DMK since it was for a common cause.
Mr. Thirumavalavan said that the party was in favour of political parties speaking in one voice as far as the Cauvery river water sharing issue is concerned. “I appeal to PWF leaders and the DMK to release a working plan to organise a ‘Cauvery Rights March’ involving 10 lakh people in Chennai,” he said before holding meetings with Mr. G. Ramakrishnan and Mr. R. Mutharasan, the State secretaries of the CPI (M) and CPI respectively. They were slated to meet MDMK leader Vaiko late on Monday. Mr. Vaiko has been vehemently opposed to the idea of lending credence to the DMK’s all-party meeting in which the Congress, TMC and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and a few other parties are slated to participate.
Earlier on October 21 when the PWF leaders had held a discussion on the November 19 polls in three constituencies, only the CPI (M) was against boycotting the elections.
VCK sources claimed that Mr. Vaiko had not consulted the leaders of the constituent parties before announcing that the PWF would not attend the meeting convened by the DMK.
“The farmers associations of the CPI and CPK (M) had earlier met with DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin and discussed the Cauvery issue. We had taken it as a precedent. Also, the VCK has always been insisting that there needs to be an all party meeting and that if the government is not convening it, the opposition party must.
“After insisting on such a stand, it will not be right to now go back on it,” said a senior VCK leader.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ramakrishnan said, “We participated in the rail roko on October 17 and 18, called by farmers’ associations and think it was a success. We also met President Pranab Mukherjee to appraise him of the issue. Also, the Cauvery case is pending in the Supreme Court.”
Mr. Vaiko’s justification for cold-shouldering the DMK was that the party had not done anything to resolve the Cauvery dispute when it was in power.
Sources in the CPI-M as well as the CPI say their reluctance stems from the fact that the meeting is being organised by the DMK. “We think the DMK has a lot to gain from holding this meeting. As it is, the PWF has boycotted the November 19 polls because we think it will not be a fair election as the DMK as well as the AIADMK have re-nominated candidates from the cancelled May elections,” said a CPI leader, who did not want to be named. The Communist parties think that sharing space with the DMK, that too a day before the first day of nomination for the polls, may grant legitimacy to the election.
However, both CPI-M as well as CPI tried to play down the rift with the VCK, saying it should be seen as a minor difference of opinion.
