An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and attended by the Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin and representatives of farmers’ association here on Thursday unanimously decided to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for expeditiously constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority as per the Supreme Court judgment.
They will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister when he visits Chennai on Saturday to participate in a government function.
This is the first time in many years that the two major Dravidian parties — the AIADMK and the DMK — have concurred on the course of action to be taken in dealing with the contentious subject.
In the past three decades, the Leader of the Opposition has not had attended an all-party meeting convened by the government on the issue.
The Chief Minister would lead the delegation of leaders from all political parties, representatives from various farmer associations and MPs from the State during the meeting, a resolution adopted at the all-party meeting held at the Secretariat said.
Through another resolution it was decided that: “Appropriate action would be taken after consulting with legal experts all the suggestions expressed by leaders of all political parties over the Supreme Court judgment reducing the water share to Tamil Nadu by 14.75 TMC ft.”
At the meeting, several political parties insisted that a review petition must be filed on the apex court verdict.
When The Hindu asked Law Minister C.Ve. Shanmugham if the resolution meant the State would file a review petition, he said, “We cannot say anything without consulting with the legal counsels, who argued the case.”
As the Supreme Court judgment delivered on February 16, 2018, provided for setting up the CMB as well as the Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority within six weeks, efforts would be taken towards setting up of these bodies. Earlier in the day, Ministers from the Cauvery Delta region – R. Kamaraj, O.S. Manian and R. Doraikkannu – welcomed those who arrived for the meeting. Mr. Palaniswami called upon all parties to stand united for the cause. “There may have been differences between us either on Cauvery or other important issues, but I urge all parties to stand united for the people of Tamil Nadu and unanimously assert the rights of the State,” he appealed.
Besides Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and other Ministers, representatives of 30 political parties and 14 farmer associations took part in the meeting.
