Stop flaying Cong, press Centre over CMB: Pondy CM to AIADMK

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today hit out at the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu for criticising the Congress on the Cauvery issue instead of mounting pressure on the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"It is amusing to see Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and others from the AIADMK criticising the Congress on the river water issue. This criticism is absolutely not acceptable," he told reporters here.

Attacking the Congress and DMK during a one-day fast by AIADMK on April 3, Palaniswami had accused the DMK of enacting dramas and 'betraying' farmers despite being part of the erstwhile UPA regime at the centre.

Narayanasamy, who returned this morning from Delhi after meeting the AICC leaders, said as far as Puducherry government was concerned, a joint meeting of leaders of various parties had been held and a resolution adopted in the assembly last month urging the Centre to form the CMB.

He said he had submitted a detailed letter to the Prime Minister during the latter's Feb 25 visit to Puducherry, which is also a reparian state of Cauvery, urging him to set up the CMB to protect ryots in the Union Territory and assure them of water from the river for irrigation.

"The Prime Minister is yet to respond to my plea and also to the resolution," he said.

Narayanasamy said Karaikal in Puducherry depended on Cauvery waters from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for irrigation.

"But we have been let down by both the states, hence the need for the CMB. Our priority is to protect farmers of Karaikal, as they depend on Cauvery water," he added.

He flayed the Centre for not reducing the price of petrol and diesel, even when the crude oil price in the global market was low.