All-party consultations could have spared CM Vijay from uninvited guest tag, says ally CPI's leader Mutharasan

TIRUCHY: CPI state secretary R Mutharasan on Saturday criticised Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay over planning a visit to Karnataka for bilateral talks on the Cauvery issue, saying he should have first consulted all-party representatives and farmers, who would have advised him against such a misadventure and prevented the Karnataka government from treating him as an "uninvited guest."

Addressing reporters after a protest against Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam, Mutharasan said the Union government had failed to remain impartial and condemned a Union minister's statement supporting Karnataka's stance on the project.

He alleged that Karnataka had repeatedly failed to comply with the Supreme Court verdict directing it to release 177 tmc ft of Cauvery water annually to Tamil Nadu and had also ignored the recent Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) order to release 4 tmc ft of water immediately.

"Both the BJP and the Congress deceive Tamil Nadu in every aspect, particularly on the Cauvery issue," Mutharasan charged.

Warning of a worsening agrarian crisis, he said kuruvai cultivation in the Delta, which normally covered more than six lakh acres, had shrunk to around two lakh acres. Samba cultivation had also become uncertain due to the lack of Cauvery water, depleting groundwater and unscheduled power cuts, he said, cautioning that Tamil Nadu could soon face an acute drinking water shortage.

Reiterating his demand for an all-party meeting on the Cauvery issue, Mutharasan said the Chief Minister should have consulted political parties and farmers before deciding to visit Karnataka.

"The all-party delegation and the farmers would have suggested the CM abstain from proceeding to Karnataka, and this could have avoided the Karnataka government terming him an 'uninvited guest'," he said.