DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Tuesday said the people of Tamil Nadu would benefit if Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam resigned instead of enacting a “farcical drama” of fasting for the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
Addressing mediapersons at Kolathur, he alleged that the AIADMK government was resorting to a fast as it did not have the courage to convene an all-party meeting over the issue.
“It was decided at the [previous] all-party meeting that the Prime Minister should be urged to constitute the Cauvery Management Board. But the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister do not have even a modicum of courage to implement the resolution,” he said, adding that if they were really concerned about the welfare of the farmers, they should have convened another all-party meeting and adopted a resolution condemning the Centre for its failure to constitute the CMB.
The DMK leader said the State government convened a “silent meeting” from morning to evening, and it was not clear what transpired at the meeting and what decisions were taken in connection with the Cauvery Management Board.
“It [the AIADMK government] has prostrated before the BJP government at the Centre and failed to bring pressure [to bear] on it. It lacks the moral courage [to do that],” he alleged.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Stalin met party cadre who were arrested during a protest.
Thambi Durai hits back
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and AIADMK propaganda secretary M. Thambi Durai came down heavily on the DMK, accusing it of seeking to belittle the ruling party’s agitation. Taking exception to the DMK holding road blockades on the day the ruling party observed a fast across the State, Mr. Thambi Durai told The Hindu over phone from New Delhi: “We are not against them [the DMK] holding agitations per se. Let them have their bandh on April 5. But why is it that they are having their stir today? Is it to ensure that my party’s protest does not get highlighted?”
Referring to the assurance given by the Supreme Court that it would ensure that Tamil Nadu gets its due share of Cauvery water, he said the DMK was “not able to digest” the fact that the efforts being made by the AIADMK government were on the verge of bearing fruit for the State.
