Jayalalithaa challenges Karunanidhi to debate on Cauvery issue

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa Tuesday said she was ready for a debate on the Cauvery river water dispute in the assembly post-election provided DMK president M.Karunanidhi accepts her proviso to face her in a direct debate.

Addressing an election rally in this Tamil Nadu town, around 150km from Chennai, she said she is ready to accept Karunanidhi's challenge, made during his election rally, of having a detailed debate on which party in Tamil Nadu did what on securing the interests of the state in the water dispute with Karnataka.

Jayalalithaa, also the AIADMK chief, said post general elections when the assembly is convened, she is ready for a debate on the Cauvery water issue where she would list the betrayals of the state's interests by Karunanidhi.

"On behalf of my party I will only talk. Similarly is Karunanidhi ready to participate in the assembly debate? Participation on behalf of DMK by Duraimurugan or somebody else is not acceptable," she said.

Jayalalithaa said Karunanidhi has to announce whether he is ready to debate one-to-one with her on the issue failing which it would be considered true that he has accepted that he had betrayed the state's interests in the water dispute.

She claimed that Karunanidhi had betrayed the state's interests in the Cauvery issue by allowing Karnataka to build dams across the river, withdrawing the case filed in the Supreme Court and not taking any action to publish the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's final award in the official gazette.

According to Jayalalithaa, the 2014 general elections will throw up an entirely new kind of result whereby regional parties will join together to form the central government.

"Formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the centre is the aim of AIADMK. If the party has to play an important role in such a government then it should win all the 40 seats (39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry)," she said.

She urged the people not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and DMK for betraying the state's interests in the Cauvery issue.