The ₹80,000 crore Cauvery-Godavari river interlinking project will be implemented once the “Amma government” is formed again, AIADMK leader and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said on Wednesday.
He gave this assurance to Delta farmers at Thiruvaiyaru while soliciting votes in favour of S. Venkatesan, the BJP nominee for the Assembly constituency.
Adding that his ambition was to elevate Tamil Nadu to the status of the best State in water management, Mr. Palaniswami said the “Amma government” headed by him had already succeeded in eliciting the support of the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments, and had also convinced the Union government to accept the proposal mooted by them.
“The Prime Minister assured us that the Union government will extend its support to the project, which will augment irrigation needs of the Delta region. The Cauvery-Godavari river linking project will be implemented after the formation of the Amma government again,” he added.
Once implemented, Delta farmers would not have to rely on the Karnataka government, which released water into the Cauvery only when the State received excess rain, he said.
Further, the rejuvenation/restoration of the water bodies in the Delta region, completed through the ‘Kudimaramathu’ scheme, had resulted in the better utilisation of excess rainwater that previously drained into the Bay of Bengal, Mr. Palaniswami added.
Hitting out at the DMK for allowing hydrocarbon projects in the Delta region when it shared the power at the Centre, the Chief Minister said it was the “Amma government” led by him that saved the region by declaring it a “protected agricultural zone”. It was the “Amma government” that had put an end to the five decade-long legal battle to establish the State’s right in Cauvery, he added.
Later, addressing the electorate at Papanasam, where he sought the peoples’ mandate in favour of AIADMK nominee K. Gopinathan, the Chief Minister criticised the DMK for promising to waive farm loans when such loans had already been waived and ‘no due certificates’ issued to farmers.
While seeking support for Sridhar Vandaiyar, the Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam candidate for the Kumbakonam constituency, Mr. Palaniswami held the DMK responsible for thrusting the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) on students in the State, particularly government school students who constituted 41% of the total number.
“It was the DMK-participated Union government that brought NEET in 2010. But now the DMK leader says the AIADMK government had failed to protect medical aspirants. The truth is that the Amma government protected the interests of government school students by providing 7.5% reservation in medical college admissions for them,” he said.
‘DMK will vanish’
In Nachiyarkovil, while seeking votes for S. Veeramani, the party’s nominee in the Thiruvidaimaruthur (Reserve) constituency, the Chief Minister countered DMK president M.K. Stalin’s claim that the AIADMK would be wiped out after the forthcoming election.
“It will be the DMK that will vanish and not the AIADMK,” he said, adding that the strength of the AIADMK was the peoples’ support.
Continuing his tirade against the DMK leader at Kudavasal, where he urged the public to return sitting Nannilam MLA and Food Minister R. Kamaraj to the Legislative Assembly for the third consecutive time, the Chief Minister said Mr. Stalin could not even dream to fool the electorate again like he did in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“A lot of assurances were given by the DMK in that elections and all of it still remain on paper even after the lapse of two years,” he said.
Stating that Mr. Stalin was making such comments out of frustration, Mr. Palaniswami said the post of the Chief Minister was not a product sold in shops. It was up to the people to decide who should become the Chief Minister and they have already decided, he added.
The Chief Minister winded up his electioneering for the day after canvassing for AIADMK candidates Siva Rajamanickam and A.N.R. Panneerselvam at Mannargudi and Tiruvarur respectively.