PM Narendra Modi to meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tamil Nadu situation today

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday for urgent discussion of the situation in Tamil Nadu as the state appears to be spinning out of control amid series of agitations, some of which have been violent, by political parties and NGOs on issues ranging from Cauvery to Neutrino and Sterlite.

The Governor, on a visit to Kancheepuram for participating in a ceremony for the late Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi on Monday, rushed back to Chennai following the Delhi call and took the 6.45 pm Indigo flight. The Raj Bhavan made the flight booking barely a couple of hours before the departure time, which indicated the urgency behind his mission to brief the PM.

Governor Purohit had summoned state chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police and advocate general on Sunday for a brief on the TN situation, particularly in view of the impending visit of the Prime Minister to Chennai for participating in the Defence Expo next week.
The Governor sent his report to Delhi on the happenings in TN later in the day, sources said.

Monday’s agitations were aimed at pressuring the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) and they were spearheaded by the DMK and included its allies such as the Congress (I). Some Tamil fringe outfits and students too held protests for the same issue in several parts of Tamil Nadu, including some 30 spots in Chennai.

Rail blockades were staged at Coimbatore, too, by the agitating cadres of the opposition parties and pro-Tamil outfits. On April 1, the DMK, TNCC, Left parties, VCK and various outfits launched protests in Chennai demanding that the Centre form the CMB. As the members continued to agitate for the second day on Monday, two DMK workers allegedly made a bid to immolate themselves demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court's February 16 verdict on Cauvery issue.

The two DMK activists - identified as P. T. Murugesan and Singai Sadashivam — doused themselves with kerosene and tried to set themselves on fire, police said. But they were overpowered by police present at the spot and whisked away to a nearby police station. The agitations spilled over to Tiruvarur, Madurai and other parts of Tamil Nadu and local DMK leaders led the protests across Tamil Nadu.

In Chennai, the demonstrations were held by DMK workers at several places including Saidapet where former city Mayor M. Subramanian led the stir. Demonstrations were also held in Thanjavur, the rice bowl of TN and also in front of Central government offices in Chennai, Erode and even in the neighbouring Pudu-cherry.

During the protest here by 'May 17 Movement,' a pro-Tamil outfit, some of its cadres allegedly hurled sandals at the signboard of “Shastri Bhavan” housing several Central government offices, briefly triggering tension. Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi chief T. Velmurugan whose party cadres had on Sunday damaged a toll plaza at Ulundurpet in Villupruam district said their protest was only against the Centre and not against anyone else. Over a dozen pro-Tamil outfits including DVK and Adi Tamizhar Katchi and the cadres of Left parties held protests in Madurai.

Both the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government had on March 31 moved the Supreme Court on the issue of constitution and composition of the CMB in compliance with its February 16 order on water allocation among riparian states. While the state filed a contempt petition against the centre, the Union government sought clarifications on the Supreme Court's February order on water sharing.

PMK founder Dr. S. Ramadoss has announced his party's support to tomorrow's shutdown by farmers organisations and traders, besides DMK-led opposition parties' bandh on April 5. His party would support all Cauvery related protests, he added. Opposition parties affiliated trade unions, including the LPF (DMK), and AITUC (CPI) too have decided to support the April 5 bandh. They held meetings in Chennai and Coimbatore to extend support for the shutdown.