‘Fight for Cauvery board will continue’

We won the battle; the war is on, says Stalin

DMK working president M.K. Stalin on Saturday said the protests in Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) would not stop until the board was formed by the Centre.

“The [Cauvery Rights Retrieval] rally was part of our struggle. We won that battle. The war is going on,” he said in a statement, reiterating that the fight would continue until the CMB, with adequate powers, was formed and Tamil Nadu’s rights were established.

Later in the day, addressing journalists at Koyambedu after garlanding the statue of B.R. Ambedkar, he said a rally would be held in Chennai on April 16 to condemn a Supreme Court order which, according to him, undermined the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

When asked about Governor Banwarilal Purohit extending his greetings on the occasion of the Tamil New Year, Mr. Stalin said that as far as his party was concerned, the Tamil New Year fell on the first day of the Thai month.

“Our leader Kalaignar [M. Karunanidhi] announced it and we had adopted a resolution in the Assembly. We are not bothered with the Governor’s greetings,” he said.

Responding to BJP leader H. Raja’s claim that the State government could be dismissed using the power of the Centre, he said that was Mr. Raja’s personal opinion.