Edappadi justifies memorandum to PM

COIMBATORE

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday justified the decision to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the early constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. He said the State government could approach the Centre only through proper channels and not through social media networks.

The government had already emphasised the need for forming the board during the birth centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The latest petition was to urge the Centre to protect the State’s rights in the Cauvery issue, as laid out in the Supreme Court verdict on the issue.

In response to a question on what would be the State Government’s stand if the Centre were to delay the constitution of the board after May 3, the Chief Minister said since the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to file a draft for forming the board, he would not comment.

Responding to Union Minister of State Pon. Radhakrishnan’s comment that the AIADMK had taken money from Sterlite Industries, Mr. Palaniswami said it was the AIADMK government that got the unit shut in 2013.

He said that it was a figment of imagination that T.T.V. Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam would use the ‘two leaves’ symbol in the Karnataka election, as a case was before the Supreme Court.