Rajini backs Haasan's Cauvery talks pitch, TN farmers oppose

Top actor Rajinikanth today backed Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan reaching out to Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on the Cauvery issue while Tamil Nadu farmers' leaders opposed it saying it was unwarranted.

The Tamil superstar, who is set to enter politics, said he did not see anything wrong in Haasan reaching out to Kumaraswamy on the issue.

"...it (talks) should continue. They (Haasan-Kumaraswamy) are not enemies.. it (Cauvery issue) can be resolved through talks as well..even big things have been resolved through talks," he told reporters at the airport.

General secretary of the Tamil Nadu Cauvery Delta Farmers Welfare Association, Mannargudi S Ranganathan, wondered why Haasan should now pich for talks with Karnataka when the Cauvery Management Authority has been set up after decades-long legal battle.

"Supreme Court is the highest court of the country and its orders on the issue, the Cauvery water release should be followed by everyone," he told PTI.

The farmer leader said at a time when the top court concluded the matter by giving its ruling, suggesting holding talks again on the very same issue was tantamount to contempt of court.

The Mannargudi based 85-year old veteran, who initiated legal battle decades ago on the issue in the apex court, said several rounds of talks in the past with Karnataka failed to yield any results.

Ranganathan said for the past several years Delta farmers could not raise 'Kuruvai' crop and appealed to authorities to release water at least by the third week of June to enable them to raise the crop.

Vice president of the association, Magadanapuram V Rajaram said Haasan should not poke his nose in such "crucial issues."
President, National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, P Ayyakannu, who spearheaded protests in Delhi over farmers issues, said,"farmers need water...it's okay with us if we get water from Karnataka through anyone's efforts whether it Haasan or anyone else."
President of Coordination Committee of All Tamil Nadu farmers association P R Pandian said "it is unacceptable, what Haasan has done is against the Supreme Court verdict."