Cauvery issue: AIADMK denounces DMK's suggestion on MPs' resignation

Chennai: The ruling AIADMK today denounced the DMK’s suggestion that Tamil Nadu MPs should resign if Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not meet an all-party delegation on the Cauvery issue, asking the opposition party to spell out what it did on the matter for 17 years when it was part of the central government.

Senior AIADMK leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the DMK “enjoyed plum posts” while being part of the central dispensation for 17 years and asked if it had done anything on the lines of the suggestion made by DMK Working President MK Stalin yesterday. The DMK was part of the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and a key constituent in UPA I and II. It held cabinet portfolios in all the three dispensations.

“What I am asking is, you were supporting the central government for 17 years and enjoyed plum posts. But there were many livelihood issues concerning Tamil Nadu (including) Cauvery during these 17 years. What did you do then?” he told reporters here.

Jayakumar was responding to Stalin’s suggestion to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami that all the MPs from the state should resign if Modi did not meet a proposed all-party delegation to press setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Board.

Stalin, Leader of Opposition in the assembly, met Palaniswami here yesterday at the state secretariat to discuss the Cauvery issue. Today, Jayakumar said there should be no politics on the Cauvery issue and underlined the Tamil Nadu government’s “magnanimity to take on-board everyone” on the matter.

Tamil Nadu should get its share of water as directed by the Supreme Court, Jayakumar said, and assured that the Palaniswami government will continue to “exert pressure” to ensure that the state’s rights are safeguarded.

The AIADMK and the DMK together have 54 MPs in both Houses of Parliament. The AIADMK has 37 members in the Lok Sabha and 13 in the Rajya Sabha. The DMK has no representation in the Lower House, but has four members in the Rajya Sabha. The PMK and the BJP have one MP each from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.