Despite criticism by leaders of the ruling AIADMK and BJP, DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Thursday said that the party would work with its allies for the welfare of the farmers.
In a statement, he said that the bandh called for by the DMK and like-minded parties in support of the farmers in the State was a massive success with the active participation of the people.
However, the leaders of the ruling parties in the State and the Centre, against whom the bandh was organised, were defaming the DMK claiming that the party was against the interests of the farmers. It has become a tradition here to blame the DMK for the Cauvery crisis for political gains, Mr. Stalin charged.
While the bandh was a total success, the leaders of the AIADMK, the BJP and the PMK have been defaming the DMK, he said. Quoting party president M. Karunanidhi’s statement in October 2016, he detailed the efforts taken by his father and the DMK government headed by him for decades to protect the rights of the farmers over the Cauvery river water sharing issue.
“It has become a habit for some parties here to blame the DMK, without understanding the issue: be it Cauvery or methane gas project,” Mr. Stalin said. Even when explanations were given, the parties continued to defame the DMK to gain political mileage, he charged.
The farmers in the State know that the DMK government had taken the initiative and implemented schemes like hiking the daily wages for farm workers, free power to farmers, waiver of co-operative loans, Uzhavar Sandhai, and desilting and interlinking of rivers. Therefore, the DMK, despite criticism, would continue to work for the welfare of the farmers in the State, Mr. Stalin assured.
