Stalin calls all-party meet on Cauvery row, Oppn gives it a miss

CHENNAI: DMK legislative party leader and treasurer MK Stalin convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday on the Cauvery issue but the Opposition gave it a miss.

When questioned about the absence of the Opposition — ruling AIADMK, BJP, Left parties and sub-regional parties such as DMDK of Captain Vijayakanth and MDMK of Vaiko — Stalin said, “I had invited all parties, including the AIADMK. You ask them why they did not attend and inform us also. As the government was not calling an all-party meeting, I convened one.”

The DMK wanted to steal a march on AIADMK that has been ignoring demands for a meet in the wake of the tough stand taken by Karnataka on the issue.

“It is important to be seen as doing something on such an important issue, especially as the bypolls are to be held next month and local body polls in couple of months,” said a political analyst.

Leaders of farmers’ associations were also present in the meeting. Among the political attendees were the Congress, IUML and breakaway Congress group Tamil Maanila Congress.

Its leader, former Union minister GK Vasan, said, “No politics should be read into today’s meeting. It is being held solely for the benefit of the farming community, which is in severe distress.”

The AIADMK and the BJP, meanwhile, launched a scathing attack on the DMK-Congress combine and asked them about the action they took on the Cauvery issue over the ten years they were in power together.

The meet passed three resolutions — calling for a sitting of the Tamil Nadu assembly to form a view, pressurising the Centre to set up the Cauvery Water Management Board at the earliest and the TN government compensating the farmers for the loss to the tune of `25,000 per acre.

I had invited all parties, including the AIADMK. You ask them why they did not attend and inform us also. As the government was not calling an all-party meeting, I convened one MK STALIN