“We will sacrifice anything to safeguard the rights of Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery issue,” Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami assured farmers here on Saturday.
Speaking at a public meeting organised by the AIADMK to impress upon the Centre the need to constitute the Cauvery Management Board immediately, Mr. Palaniswami said the State government was putting sustained pressure on the Centre to ensure that farmers got their assured quantum of water.
He said former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was the sole reason for the continued suffering of the State, and in particular, the delta farmers. “The DMK had a splendid chance in 2007 to comprehensively solve the Cauvery issue. Despite being in power at the State and having enormous influence at the Centre, the DMK leadership failed to solve the tangle, leaving the farmers to suffer till this day,” he said.
The DMK leader, as Chief Minister, withdrew the State’s plea before the Supreme Court on August 28, 1972, to save his regime. To escape action from the then Congress government led by Indira Gandhi at the Centre, he withdrew the case, causing irreparable damage to the State, Mr. Palaniswami alleged. DMK working president M.K. Stalin was touring the State to hide the party’s lapses, with the ulterior motive of grabbing power by any means, he said.
The DMK bartered farmers’ rights for power, while we are ready to sacrifice anything to safeguard the farmers’ rights over the Cauvery, he said. “We will fight for our farmers and their rights till the end. We are confident that we would get justice in the Cauvery case,” he said.
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