Chennai: Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami averred that the Tamil Nadu government will ensure the Cauvery Water Management Authority implements the Supreme Court order and facilitates the release of Cauvery water to the State.
Taking pot shots at the opposition DMK which has been staging agitations for the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), Mr. Palaniswami dared the DMK to convince its ally the Congress in Karnataka to nominate members for the CMA immediately.
“Three States including Tamil Nadu have already nominated their members to the Authority. Karnataka alone has not complied. You can ask your ally, the Congress which has formed government with JD (S) to immediately nominate its members for the Authority,” Mr. Palaniswami said in the Assembly on Monday. At this DMK deputy leader Duraimurugan said “I think both of us have come to the stage where we don’t have to speak to Karnataka.”
Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal, recalled the efforts of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in ensuring Tamil Nadu’s rights prevail on Cauvery, said the issue has been resolved, thanks also to her initiatives.
Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Pollachi V. Jayaraman lauded the efforts of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa in “retrieving Tamil Nadu’s rights on Cauvery.”
The policy note on Public Works Department and Irrigation tabled in the Assembly by the Chief Minister hailed the implementation of the Cauvery order as a historic achievement, and said “due to the efforts of government of Tamil Nadu and the intervention of the Supreme Court, the final order of the tribunal was notified in the Gazette of India.”
DMK cadres boycott CM’s reply
The opposition DMK boycotted Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s reply to the debate on the demand for grants for the Highways and Minor Ports and PWD (Irrigation) departments held by him, after the Assembly Speaker declined to revoke the expunging of a remark made by leader of the opposition and DMK working president M. K. Stalin.
Stalin made certain remarks while speaking on the Chennai-Salem Green Expressway Corridor, leading to the Speaker P. Dhanapal expunging them. He made a vain bid to draw the attention of the Speaker to revoke the expunging order and following this the Treasury Benches reacted. The Speaker insisted that only a word from his speech had been removed.
Later, Leader of the House and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, maintaining that there was no practice of revoking the ruling of the Speaker, appealed to Mr. Dhanapal to expunge the entire conversation on the subject.
Protesting, Mr. Stalin announced that his DMK is boycotting the Chief Minister’s reply and staged a walkout, accompanied by his party legislators.
