AIADMK, BJP claim credit for CWMA, Opposition silent on formation

BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan hailed the Centre’s move and pointed out that the Centre had set up the authority despite the non-cooperation of Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. 

She asked why the Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu who held agitations against the Union government on the Cauvery issue did not welcome the Centre’s action. “Parties in Tamil Nadu are not ready to welcome a good initiative by the Centre and they are only bent on 

opposing the Union government,” she alleged. 

Recalling the black flag protest during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chennai, she said, “Can the parties which held the agitations take back the black flags showed to the Prime Minister. Can they take back the black balloons flown during the Prime Minister’s visit,” she asked. Parties which criticise the BJP on the Cauvery dispute are keeping silent when it comes to Kumaraswamy, who is an ally of the Congress. 

Instead of taking out a rally to the Raj Bhavan, DMK leader Stalin should take a procession towards Karnataka condemning Kumaraswamy who wants to negotiate again on the issue. The AIADMK is holding ‘Cauvery victory meetings’ to claim the formation of the authority as a great achievement of the party government.

Tamil Development Minister ‘Ma foi’ K Pandiarajan who addressed a public meeting in Tiruvallur near the city said the AIADMK would bring the delta districts back to the glorious days of abundant cultivation. The Cauvery dispute was a long standing one and it had a history of more than 60 years. 

Former chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had solved the dispute and ensured the livelihood of farmers proving that AIADMK government remains the custodian of farmers, he said. Cauvery water was flowing from Karnataka till 1974 as per the agreement signed between the two governments in 1924, The Minister alleged that the problem begun since the DMK government in 1974 under M Karunanidhi failed to renew the agreement. Jayalalithaa was firm in her decision that only legal battle could bring Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and carried on a relentless legal struggle to ensure Tamil Nadu’s rights over Cauvery, he said. 

The battle initiated by Jayalalithaa was carried on to its logical end by Palaniswami, who had obtained a historic verdict from the Supreme Court upholding Tamil Nadu’s right to share Cauvery water,  the Minister said.