AIADMK a puppet of BJP: Stalin

DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Monday said Tamil Nadu could not get justice in the Cauvery water dispute since the ruling AIADMK remained a puppet of the BJP government at the Centre.

“The DMK put politics aside and made efforts to provide a unified voice to Tamil Nadu in the Cauvery issue. But the ruling party is functioning like a puppet,” he said in a statement, explaining the reasons behind the DMK-led Opposition’s call for a State-wide bandh on April 5.

Mr. Stalin said the ‘scheme’ that the Supreme Court referred to in its verdict in the Cauvery water sharing dispute was nothing but the Cauvery Management Board, adding that the Centre was enacting a farcical drama and behaving as if it had not understood the meaning of the Supreme Court’s order. “It [the Centre] has denied Tamil people their rights over the Cauvery water. Now, it has sought three months’ time and is planning to evolve another scheme to dilute Tamil Nadu’s rights as its priority is the [upcoming] elections to the Karnataka Assembly,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said the proposed bandh was not simply a protest conceived by the DMK, but a battle to protect the livelihood of the people of Tamil Nadu.