Cauvery dispute: DMK terms AIADMK's hunger strike a 'drama', demands K Palaniswamy's resignation

Chennai: Dismissing the ruling AIADMK’s day-long fast over the Cauvery issue as a “drama”, the DMK on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy and his cabinet, saying it would “do good” to the people. [caption id=“attachment_4357777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy. PTI[/caption] Hitting out at the AIADMK for observing the fast without “taking steps” on the emotive Cauvery river water-sharing issue, DMK working president MK Stalin dismissed the hunger strike by the ruling party as a “drama”. Alleging that the Palaniswamy-led regime had not done anything for the people of the state, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said if something needed to be done now, “they should resign from their posts…that will be the only good thing they will be doing for the people”. The top DMK leader, who has been attacking the ruling regime over the Cauvery issue, said the government did not even implement a decision taken at a recent all-party meeting over the dispute to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urge him to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). “We are staging protest demonstrations on the Cauvery issue since the AIADMK regime never mounted pressure on the Centre to set up the CMB,” Stalin said. Speaking to reporters, he taunted the AIADMK dispensation by calling it a “horse-trading regime” and alleged that it was subservient to the BJP-led Central government. The Opposition leader said that at the least, the Tamil Nadu cabinet should have passed a resolution, condemning the Centre for not setting up the CMB. The pro-CMB statewide stir, being spearheaded by the DMK and a host of pro-Tamil outfits, saw a series of sit-in protests and demonstrations yesterday by students and others at various places, including in Chennai, Tiruvarur and Madurai. The DMK-led opposition parties had, on 1 April, called for a statewide shutdown on 5 April, seeking the constitution of the CMB. The Centre and the Tamil Nadu government had moved the Supreme Court on 31 March over the issue of constitution and composition of the CMB, in compliance with the 16 February apex court verdict. The Centre had sought three months’ time to implement the apex court order in view of next month’s Karnataka Assembly election. It had also asked for clarification on various issues for the formulation of a “scheme” to implement the decision of the top court. The Tamil Nadu government had sought contempt action against the Centre for “failure” to frame the scheme for the constitution of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within six weeks, as directed by the apex court on 16 February. On Monday, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear Tamil Nadu’s contempt plea against the Centre on 9 April.