CHENNAI: Responding to the demand of DMK president M Karunanidhi that an all-party meeting be convened to discuss the Cauvery water dispute, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday said there was no need for that now since consensus was prevailing already on forming the Cauvery Management Board to implement the final award of the Tribunal.
“Not even a week has passed since I have presented a memorandum on key issues faced by Tamil Nadu, including that of Cauvery water dispute, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM, who is willing to nurture a cordial relationship with Tamil Nadu government, is intending to help the State in this issue. I am confident that the Prime Minister will act neutrally on this issue and the Central government needs some time to form the CMB. As such, it is fair on our part to give appropriate time to the Centre on this count,” the Chief Minister said in a statement here.
Hitting out at Karunanidhi for the haste he has shown in this issue, Jayalalithaa said the DMK president, who had failed to do anything to resolve the Cauvery water dispute, is now advising her to convene the all-party meeting. “Karunanidhi was abound with selfishness when he was in power at the Centre and State. Now he is trying to hoodwink people as if he has some concern for them. His overtures won’t work anymore,” she said.
She added, “Karunanidhi had maintained a defeaning silence on this issue then. Now, after losing the people’s support, he is trying to show that he has concern for the issue.” Karunanidhi was afraid of condemning the UPA regime on the dispute, she added. Though Union Minister Ananthakumar had expressed a differing view on CMB since he hails from Karnataka, “neither the PM nor the Union Minister concerned with this issue has said anything,” she said.