Ruling party subservient towards BJP: M K Stalin

CHENNAI: Amity between Tamil Nadu’s ruling and the principal opposition party descended into acrimony on Sunday with DMK Working President M.K. Stalin accusing the AIADMK Government of being “timid and subservient” towards the NDA dispensation, thereby compromising the state’s rights on sensitive Cauvery issue.

Dismissing the charge, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar tore into Stalin accusing the DMK of concentrating all its energy only on “grabbing money-minting” portfolios when the party was a constituent of NDA and later UPA-1 and 2 at the Centre for 13 years without even bothering about the state’s water issues.

Speaking to party workers at a marriage ceremony, Stalin said Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his cabinet colleagues showed “little interest” in two proposals made by him during a meeting on Saturday – mass resignation of MPs from the state and passing a resolution in the state Assembly condemning the delay in constitution of Cauvery Management Board – and were “non-committal.” 

“I suggested that we can send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all 54 MPs from Tamil Nadu – 50 from AIADMK and 4 from DMK – will resign their posts if he refuses to meet us. They (the CM and colleagues) were scared. And I know they cannot agree to such a suggestion. If they had any semblance of courage, they would have never allowed Neet. If they had courage, they would have never reduced themselves to slaves (to the Centre),” Stalin said.

When the Chief Minister expressed apprehension to the proposal, Stalin said, DMK suggested that the state government could convene the Assembly and pass a resolution condemning the Centre for the “inordinate” delay in constitution of the CMB.

“Even while accepting the proposal, the CM and his colleagues suggested that the resolution should not be strongly-worded and they wanted it to be drafted in softer language. At this, I told them that the DMK would never be subservient towards anyone and that their members should be given enough time to air their views during the debate,” Stalin said.

Only on Saturday, DMK and AIADMK seemed on the same page on Cauvery issue as Stalin drove to the Secretariat to meet Palaniswami at his chamber – a rare sight in personality-driven Tamil Nadu politics. The bonhomie did not even last for 24 hours as Stalin launched an all-out attack against AIADMK, drawing sharp reaction from Jayakumar.

Responding to Stalin’s suggestion that all MPs can resign, Jayakumar wanted to know why the Opposition Leader never put forth the suggestion before his party forum in the past. 

“He can say that easily. What did the DMK achieve when it shared power at the Centre for 13 years? They fought to snatch money-minting portfolios only to further the business interests of the first family. Stalin has no locus standi to criticise AIADMK,” he said.