Don't play politics with farmers' lives: TN CM to MK Stalin

Tiruvannamalai: “The Opposition should not play politics with the lives of the farmers. Having suffered drought, they are now busy de-silting water bodies to save every drop of the monsoon rain”. That was Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami venting his frustration at Opposition leader M.K.Stalin going around the state overseeing his DMK members de-silting of tanks and accusing the Government of failure in this critical agrarian chore.

“There are many other areas where you can play politics, but leave the farmers alone”, said the CM in his address at the massive rally to celebrate MGR's centenary here. All his ministers, besides Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thamb-idurai, Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal and party MLAs and MPs, were present.  

The CM's ire seems triggered by a recent announcement from the DMK members in his Edappadi constituency that they had de-silted the Katcharayan pond despite not getting the official permission and their leader Stalin would soon visit to inspect.

“This pond was already de-silted by 33 local farmers after obtaining the local body's sanction. The farmers have even used that soil to enrich their lands. Yet, because of one person (Stalin) who seeks to gain political mileage out of everything, some DMK members of Salem town not connected in any manner with Edappadi have made this statement without any sense of shame”, the CM said.

He said the government had already undertaken de-silting work in 415 water bodies out of the total 979 in the Salem district. In all, 37,616 farmers had been granted permits for de-silting and were able to take away more than 3.51 crore cu.ft of soil for their use.

Turning to the legacy of the iconic AIADMK founder MGR, the CM said the star-politician had no parallel for the public adulation he enjoyed, both in his lifetime and even after. Tamil Nadu gained hugely in all spheres during the administrations of MGR and his illustrious successor Amma (Jayalalithaa). Both the leaders had great love for the TN people who in turn considered them as part of their families, he said.

EPS NARRATES TALES OF MGR

Apart from his hard-hitting criticism of Opposition DMK’s de-silting politics, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami also regaled his audience narrating interesting tales from the life of late MGR. The one on how he got the Cauvery water from Karnataka received the loudest cheering.

The story goes like this -- Even before becoming the Chief Minister, MGR during the campaign for 1977 elections, saw the extent of drought and decided he should do something about it. He called the Karnakata PWD minister and said he would drop by at his place for dinner. The minister was thrilled and along with his mother playing the kind host, arranged for an elaborate dinner at his house.

MGR developed hiccups at the start of the dinner and the minister’s mother urged him to quickly reach a glass of water to the VIP guest. “Where’s your son giving any water?” quipped MGR in jest, even amid his hiccups. It did not take a moment for the minister to understand what the AIADMK leader was referring to and he narrated the incident to his Chief Minister. “Even before Puratchi Thalaivar (MGR) could return to Tamil Nadu, the Cauvery water reached our state”, CM Palaniswami said.