Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Sunday accused DMK president M. Karunanidhi of having remained silent all along while in power and now trying to gain political mileage by issuing a statement on the issue of Andhra Pradesh reportedly trying to revive its plan for building a dam across the Palar.
In a statement here, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the DMK leader was known for lending a hand of relationship while he was in power. When voted out of office, he would try to project himself as a champion of the State’s rights.
While in power, Mr. Karunanidhi did nothing for getting the Cauvery tribunal’s award notified in the Union Gazette, nor did he try to protect the interests of the Tamils in the Mullaiperiyar dam row with Kerala. Now, “it is a mockery that >he has issued a statement on the Palar row to deceive the people, after having lost the people’s confidence and been voted out of power,” she said.
Mr. Karunanidhi in his statement chose to conceal the fact that it was the AIADMK government during 2001-06 that “fought the move of Andhra Pradesh to construct a dam,” the Chief Minister said. “It was my government that approached the Supreme Court against the move,” but Mr. Karunanidhi was trying to claim credit for it, she said.
The case was pending before the Supreme Court, and the Union Water Resources Ministry had already advised Andhra Pradesh to desist from constructing the dam. In these circumstances, Andhra Pradesh would not be able to construct the dam. However, the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary wrote to the Union government on June 20, urging it to advise Andhra Pradesh against going ahead with its plan, the Chief Minister said.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said she was closely monitoring the developments. She said the rights of Tamil Nadu would be protected as it was done in the case of the Cauvery and Mullaiperiyar disputes.
