CHENNAI: DMK president M K Stalin and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to reconsider his plan to hold talks with the Karnataka chief minister over the Cauvery water sharing dispute, saying any such negotiation would “only dilute Tamil Nadu’s legally secured rights”.
In a statement on ‘X’, Stalin recalled the history of the Cauvery dispute, noting that repeated talks through 1990 yielded no resolution before the matter went to the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. “Whenever the idea of talks with Karnataka was floated in the past, the DMK government firmly rejected it, because Karnataka’s pattern has been to say one thing and do another,” he said.
The Supreme Court has finalised a month-wise water release schedule, with the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee set up to implement it, he added.
Palaniswami, in a separate statement, urged Vijay to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Cauvery water dispute and the proposed Mekedatu dam project. He alleged that the Tamil Nadu government remained silent instead of exerting legal pressure on the Congress government in Karnataka to release Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water. Referring to reports of Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar saying his government was ready for talks but would not change its stand, Palaniswami said the chief minister should not decide on the issue without consulting all stakeholders.