At the hunger strike organised by the ruling AIADMK in Madurai on Tuesday, as part of the party’s State-wide fast to condemn the delay in constitution of Cauvery Management Board (CMB), the key target of attack happened to be the DMK and other opposition parties in Tamil Nadu and not the Union government that is responsible for forming the board.
Speaker after speaker from the party, who spoke at the hunger strike, criticised the DMK for failing to ensure the formation of CMB when it was sharing power with Congress at the Centre as part of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Speaking to the media, Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar, who is the MLA of Tirumangalam constituency here, said the opposition parties must avoid politicising the Cauvery issue unnecessarily and, instead, stand united on the cause.
Stating that the AIADMK was making all out efforts for the constitution of CMB, he said the DMK was afraid that the AIADMK would get credit if the board was formed.
Pointing out that the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was notified only in 2013 after late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa initiated a legal battle, Cooperation Minister Sellur K. Raju blamed the DMK for being hypocritical as it failed to form the CMB when it was in power in 2007 at the Centre in the UPA government when the final verdict came out.
Madurai rural district secretary and Madurai North MLA V.V. Rajan Chellappa, other AIADMK MLAs from the district and party functionaries took part in the day-long fast organised at the junction of West Masi and North Masi Streets by blocking traffic on sections of both roads.
Many party speakers, who spoke during the hunger strike, harshly criticised the DMK, DMDK and other parties, occasionally with distasteful remarks personally targeting the leaders of these parties.
Published - April 04, 2018 08:15 am IST
