Chennai: The spectacle of Chief Minister K. Palaniswami and his deputy O. Panneerselvam fasting together at their AIADMK Cauvery rally in Chennai must normally please the people and lift the parched morale of the delta farmer, but cynicism lingers in the people.
The DMK-led opposition parties, traders, students, Tamil nationalists, etc. are all rattling their sabers and spears on this same issue. Yet the public merely shrug at the suggestion that now that the 'all and mighty' have opened up their throttle, the shaken Centre will rush its notification of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).
“Everyone agitating for Cauvery appears to be having own personal agenda. They are fighting the Centre but at the same time, they are also fighting against each other, blaming each other for the Cauvery bungling - the DMK blames the AIADMK and vice versa. This is pathetic”, said C. Nallasami, secretary, Federation of TN Agriculturists Associations in Erode.
Said Vijayaraghavan Narasimhan, lawyer in Chennai: “We recently had the rare spectacle of the opposition leader in TN Assembly (Stalin) meeting the Chief Minister and raising issues of public interest. It was a welcome departure from the past. Alas, the 'bonhomie' has dissipated with the parties exhibiting their personal differences, even in the matter of a common cause as dear to us as Cauvery. It sticks out like the parched Cauvery basin; for the counterparts in Karnataka, despite the bugle sounded for a 'divisive election', are seen to be one -- with the present and erstwhile Chief Minister, on the same page and stage”.
“Tamil Nadu, which actually has the stronger cause, subtly recognised by the Chief Justice of India himself saying 'We will protect your interest' in the matter of early listing of the contempt petition, has failed us yet again, as partisan party lines seem to have subsumed even the sublime Mother Cauvery cause”, added the lawyer practicing in the Madras high court.
Prof Antony Samy, heading the English department at the Loyola College, Chennai, feels that the people are as much to be blamed as the 'thalaivars' with selfish agendas. “As as I am concerned, people of Tamil Nadu are not aware of the importance of certain issues such as Cauvery and understand the need for unity to achieve results. And the political parties are not ready to transcend their differences and bury their personal agenda for the sake of the common good of the state and its people. This is unfortunate. We badly need transformational leadership”, he said.
“In Karnataka, everybody joins up in the Cauvery fight but here in Tamil Nadu, we are all divided. This creates a huge apprehension whether we will succeed at all”, said the worried professor.
