Chennai : An opposition-sponsored bandh in Tamil Nadu over the non-constitution of the Cauvery Management Board drew fairly good response across the State on Thursday with numerous leaders including DMK working president M K Stalin and Congress state president courting arrest in Chennai. Trains were picketed across Tamil Nadu by district leaders of the DMK, Congress, VCK and Left parties, traffic came to halt during peak morning hours in Chennai’s arterial Anna Salai, many buses were off roads and numerous shops were closed. Rarely has an opposition bandh call drawn this sort of a response in Tamil Nadu in the last 20 years.
Interstate transport services were suspended on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border with people forced to get down at Hosur and walk to the Karnataka side.
Stalin along with other prominent opposition leaders were taken to a marriage hall in Chennai and detained there till evening. “Over 10 lakh people were arrested in the State for participating in protests. The bandh is a total success,” said Stalin adding that he along with other leaders would begin a Cauvery retrieval rally from Tiruchi to Cuddalore soon.
Another storm brewing
Amidst the growing protests on the Cauvery issue, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit appeared to have stoked the flames by appointing Professor M K Surappa, who is a native of Karnataka, as Vice Chancellor of the Anna University, the State’s premier technical varsity to which around 600 engineering colleges are affiliated.
Though Surappa’s academic credentials are good – he was the IIT Ropar Director and has four patents – the fact that he is a Kannadiga has angered some political parties and the opposition to his appointment is likely to be more vocal in the coming days. This is the first time a person who is not a Tamil, has been appointed Vice Chancellor of the prestigious university.
Dravidar Kazhagam leader K Veeramani and PMK MP Anbumani Ramadoss issued separate statements condemning the move.
Meanwhile, Pro-Kannada outfits on Thursday called for a bandh in poll-bound Karnataka on April 12 in a counter to the ongoing stir in neighbouring Tamil Nadu for an early setting up of the Centre to form Cauvery Management Board (CMB).