NEW DELHI: The 12 Rajya Sabha members representing AIADMK party who did not allow the House to function on Thursday demanding constitution of the Cauvery Management Board have termed the Centre’s indecisiveness as deliberate and politically motivated.
The Leader of Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK in Rajya Sabha, A. Navaneethakrishnan told Express that he had already handed over a request in advance to Hamid Ansari, the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha for an adjournment motion to discuss and approve the Cauvery Management Board by the House.
"It is unethical on the part of the central government not to take a call on the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. But the Centre wants the matter to be cleared by the Parliament, which is not required,” Navaneethakrishnan observed.
The motive of the central government, he said, “It is heavily biased and political motivated as it does not want to be party to anything that would go against it in Karnataka, where there is a Congress-led government.”
Navaneethakrishnan further points out that, “ The intention of the Centre appears to stall the issue by routing it through Parliament. This is making the issue unnecessarily complicated”.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day after five adjournments as oppositions demanded a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on demonetization, while AIADMK members wanted the House to discuss and approve constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
The Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has snowballed into a major controversy. The Supreme Court in September this year had directed the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). However a month later Karnataka filed a review petition filed in the Supreme Court and the court put on hold the setting up of CLB, a setback to Tamil Nadu.