Chennai, Aug 2: Tamil Nadu Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar on Sunday rejected the demand for an all-party meeting made by various political parties in the state to discuss the ongoing Cauvery water row with Karnataka.
He said a detailed resolution was already passed unanimously in the Assembly with the support and participation of all political parties.
The DMK, AIADMK, PMK and VCK have demanded for an all-party meeting.
The minister also alleged that DMK President M K Stalin and Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar were working in tandem to undermine Tamil Nadu’s interests in the ongoing Cauvery water dispute.
“In our Legislative Assembly, a resolution was passed unanimously with the support and participation of all political parties. They all nodded along and supported the resolution unanimously,” he told reporters here.
“Everything regarding that resolution was debated right there. If there was opposition to be voiced, it could have been raised right then. They supported only after listening to everything, didn’t they? Wasn’t everyone given an equal opportunity to speak? Everyone spoke,” he said.
“Then why, just four days ago, did they (AIADMK) file a petition in the High Court challenging the very resolution they had supported? The moment they filed a case in the High Court, the DMK filed a petition in the Supreme Court two days later. Who ultimately suffers because of all this? It is the people of Tamil Nadu. Under the guise of creating trouble for the chief minister, they are acting against the interests of the public,” he said.
“Under such circumstances, how can you expect us to invite these very people to an all-party meeting,” he asked.
Kumar also said that the DMK’s “hasty” petition in the Supreme Court has created undue confusion.
“Yesterday morning, after completing consultations with various stakeholders, the CM decided that we must file a case in the Supreme Court regarding this issue. By afternoon, our Supreme Court counsel, Umapathy, announced the decision, outlined the filing strategy after concluding all discussions, and initiated the process.”
“While it was being processed, the DMK hastily filed their petition after 5 PM. It creates confusion when multiple petitions on the same issue are filed from the same state. What have they done over the last five years? Has the DMK filed even a single petition on this matter before this,” he questioned.
“In Karnataka, everyone remains united on a single stance. They are adamant about not releasing water to us, and there are no two opinions on that among them. However, when it comes to our approach, how are we going to reclaim our rights? On one hand, there is the court, on the other, there are diplomatic channels. Yet, beyond all this, political parties here remain divided on the exact strategy to pursue,” he said.
With regard to the reported release of 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from the Kabini reservoir, the minister said it was not enough for the state. “We need to get 17 TMC water from Karnataka”, he added.
The CWMA on Thursday rejected the Karnataka government’s plea and upheld the CWRC recommendation ordering the release of 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days.
Kumar alleged a long-standing alliance between the DMK and Shivakumar, claiming the latter routinely prioritises Stalin’s leadership.
Claiming that the DMK maintains a close, cordial relationship with Shivakumar, the minister said, “Their political stances appear closely aligned.”
The minister further leveled serious allegations regarding political horse-trading, saying, “Bengaluru served as a financial safe haven for DMK to orchestrate MLA buyouts.”
“Regarding the case involving the purchase of our MLAs, most of the money was seized in Bengaluru, and the majority of the funds originated from there,” he said. (PTI)
