Chennai: Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan met VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Wednesday and was said to have discussed the Cauvery issue with him.
Though both the BJP senior and VCK leader maintained that there was nothing “political” in their sudden meeting at VCK’s party office in Ashok Nagar here, sources said the they discussed about the Cauvery issue during the meeting that lasted for about half-an-hour. The BJP is facing the heat from the opposition parties, particularly the DMK and the Congress, which have blamed the Modi-led government for “failing to resolve the Cauvery issue.”
“I was in the midst of my meeting with my party members when I learnt that Mr Thirumavalavan was in his party office… So, I called on him. It was a courtesy call,” Radhakrishnan later said. Contending that there was “nothing political” in his meeting with the Union Minister, Thirumavalavan, called upon the political parties in the state and the farmers as well, to put up a united struggle on the Cauvery issue drawing inspiration from the neighbouring Karnataka, which was steadfast in opposing the release of water to TN.
“We should come together to exert pressure on the Centre to ensure justice to TN,” he told reporters after the meeting. The meeting assumes significance as the bypoll to the three Assembly constituencies were announced.
