Chennai: Playing the Cauvery card to win the bypolls to the three Assembly constituencies, leader of Opposition and DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Monday appealed to the voters to support his party to teach a lesson to the Central and state governments on the inter-state river dispute.
He asserted that the bypolls would teach a lesson to the ruling party and people should be always ready for a new dawn in Tamil Nadu, addressing partymen at a marriage function in the city. Stalin said the present government remain paralysed without any governance activities and the farmers in the delta districts are suffering.
Tamil Nadu wants the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board as per the Supreme Court verdict. He said the ruling party is unable to convene an all-party meeting on the Cauvery issue. He said his party is also demanding the convening of the Assembly and passing of a resolution demanding Cauvery Management Board.
Karnataka government is convening the Assembly and holding all-party meetings to justify its unjust acts, besides passing resolutions justifying their activities. On the other hand, Tamil Nadu is not making unjust demands and is only asking for the implementation of the Supreme Court order.
Since, the state government had not arranged an all-party meeting, a few farmers organisations asked the DMK to convene an all party meeting. The DMK invited all the parties, but a few parties did not attend the meet, he said and lamented that there is unity among Tamil Nadu parties. The bypoll results that would be a lesson to the ruling party would transform the present circumstances, he added.
The all-party meeting convened by the DMK was boycotted by the DMDK, BJP, PMK and the four parties in the People's Welfare Front, MDMK, VCK and Left parties. The parties had alleged that the DMK is planning to use the Cauvery dispute to gain political mileage ahead of the bypolls to three constituencies, Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thirupprankundram.
