AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa said Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should step down if he is not able to get justice for Tamil Nadu in the matter relating to the Cauvery water dispute.
“Mr Karunanidhi, who holds power both in the State and at the Centre, should either use his clout to get justice for Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery water dispute or step down owning moral responsibility and admitting his inability,” she said in a statement.
The State had already lost the kuruvai crop and the samba was facing uncertain future. “If the situation is allowed to continue there will be no agriculture in the State. Instead of finding excuses, the Chief Minister should take immediate steps to get Cauvery water,” she said.
Reiterating her earlier suggestions, Ms Jayalalithaa said if Karnataka argued that it would not abide by the final award on the ground that the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, Mr Karunanidhi should press for release of water on the basis of the interim award of the tribunal.
She criticised the Chief Minister for not taking steps to notify the final award of the tribunal in the gazette.
Reacting to the Chief Minister's remarks that he did not want to give space for unnecessary differences of opinion between the two States on the basis of media reports, Ms Jayalalithaa wanted to know why Mr Karunanidhi was afraid of expressing his views when the Karanataka Minister had scant regard for relationship between the two States.
On the Chief Minister's another explanation that there was no need to write to the Prime Minister since he had already been apprised of the situation, she said if he was really interested in protecting the interests of the State, Mr. Karunanidhi should have met the Prime Minister and asked him to get Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu.
