Chennai: The state Assembly witnessed a high voltage debate over the Cauvery issue forcing Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami to say that the AIADMK has no pact with the BJP government at the Centre nor would it extend support to go soft on constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
Dismissing as baseless the charge of Opposition DMK which attempted to pin down the state government for being “soft” with the BJP-led government at the Centre over forming CMB as directed by the Supreme Court, Palaniswami said “we don’t have alliance with the Centre nor are we extending any support to it.”
Intervening the speech of DMK member K. Pitchandi during the debate on budget, the CM referred to analogy drawn by Pitchandi while narrating a tale, and said “your story applies to the DMK which enjoyed power with the Congress but did precious little to resolve the Cauvery issue. Amma’s government will reflect the feelings of people and it will exert pressure on the Centre to form the CMB.”
While participating in the debate, Pitchandi narrated a tale of a deer, which befriended a tiger; and said the predator declined to kill the deer when other tigers wanted the meat to satiate their hunger. “Like the tiger you seem to have a soft spot for the Centre and did not force it constitute the CMB,” Mr Pitchandi added.
Joining his colleague, leader of the Opposition DMK in the House M. K. Stalin pointed out that the Supreme Court deadline to form the CMB was drawing to a close and sought to know if the Centre has communicated its intent to TN on constituting the CMB.
Intervening fisheries minister D. Jayakumar wondered if the DMK had ever attempted to resolve the Cauvery crisis by asking the Congress high command to ask the Congress government in Karnataka to release Cauvery river water to TN. Retorting, Stalin said, “From your statement I construe that you have admitted your defeat and are asking us to solve it. We will do it.”
A provoked Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, remarked, “you couldn’t solve it when you were in power nor would you do it anytime.”
At this, DMK’s former state minister Duraimurugan said, “now I am confident that you will go for ‘no confidence motion’ against the Centre.” To this Mr. Palaniswami replied the no-confidence motion is moved by the Telugu Desam party for Andhra Pradesh specific issue and there is no need to relate it to the inter-state issue of sharing the Cauvery river water. “We are voicing our own concerns and no one is supporting us. We have to exert pressure on the Centre,” Mr. Palaniswami emphasised. “We are voicing our own concerns and no one is supporting us. We have to exert pressure on the Centre,” Palaniswami emphasised.
