The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Ramadoss' charge `mischievous, untrue'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Ramadoss' charge `mischievous, untrue'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 8. The Public Works Department Minister, O. Paneerselvam, today repudiated the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder, S. Ramadoss' indictment of the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, in the Cauvery issue.

He termed "mischievous and far from truth" Dr. Ramadoss' charge that she was responsible for the State not getting its due share of Cauvery water and for filing cases in the Supreme Court without consulting the Opposition.

In a statement here, the Minister said the Chief Minister had convened meetings with Opposition parties thrice since the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam came to power in May 2001.

At the first meeting held on September 8, 2001, 43 parties, including the DMK, the Congress, the PMK and the Left parties participated. As per a resolution, an all-party delegation, in which the PMK MPs and MLAs were also members, called on the Prime Minister on September 10.

The next meeting was convened on September 20, 2002, followed by a meeting of all-party leaders with the Prime Minister on September 21, 2002. Though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam boycotted the meeting, the PMK was very much part of the team, which met the Prime Minister.

When Karnataka failed to abide by the directive of the Supreme Court as well as the Cauvery River Authority to release water to Tamil Nadu, the State Government immediately called a meeting with the Opposition on October 7, 2002. It was decided to file a suit in the apex court against Karnataka demanding monetary compensation for the crop loss suffered by delta farmers and also a defamation case for its not obeying the Supreme Court order. The meeting also decided to call general strike on October 9. The PMK was a party to all these decisions.

Dr. Ramadoss conveniently forgot all these facts and criticised the Chief Minister, said Mr. Paneerselvam.

Refuting his accusation that the Chief Minister was politicising the issue by stating that it was the responsibility of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and the DMK chief, M. Karunanidhi, to get Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu, the Minister said she had made the statement only to stress the point that the Opposition parties had an added responsibility now, with 40 MPs in their ranks. She only reflected the views of the people of the State.

The Minister said the people expected Mr. Karunanidhi and Dr. Ramadoss to show a similar concern to get Cauvery water for Tamil Nadu and rescue the delta farmers as they did in getting "plum portfolios" for their MPs in the Union Cabinet.

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