Vijayakanth calls on Oppn leaders, to lead delegation to PM

Rallying other opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, NDA ally, DMDK leader Vijayakanth today said he would lead a delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow to raise issues concerning the state after he met leaders, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi here.
Vijayakanth, also the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, told reporters here that the delegation would raise five key issues with Modi, including Karnataka's proposal to build a check dam across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.
Other issues include fishermen's problems, firing on state woodcutters by Andhra Pradesh police, Mullaperiyar and Land Bill, he said, a day after Chief Minister O Panneerselvam met Modi over the Mekedatu issue.

The DMDK chief slammed the ruling AIADMK and Panneerselvam for not heeding his appeal to lead an all-party delegation to Modi over the issues, including Mekedatu.
"In state issues, there should be public interest... AIADMK has selfish interest, people should ponder over it".
"Panneerselvam meeting Prime Minister alone is selfishness. I had requested last week itself that an all party delegation should be taken to (meet) PM Modi. Chief Minister should function with public interest (in mind)," he said.

As part of his initiative to rally the opposition, Vijayakanth had a flurry of meetings with leaders, beginning with a visit to Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence here.

It was followed by meetings with Congress leaders E V K S Elangovan, P Chidambaram, BJP state unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan, Tamil Maanila Congress chief G K Vasan, MDMK general secretary Vaiko and VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan.
He urged the leaders to send their party representatives in the delegation to the PM, to which they agreed.
Vijayakanth rallying the opposition on crucial issues assumes significance as it is not only a first of its sort by the DMDK chief, but also indicates more bonding among the opposition against the AIADMK.
His calling on Karunanidhi is also quite important as this is the first time he is meeting him after he founded the DMDK in 2005. Notably, the party has been a vocal critic of both AIADMK and DMK and it is seeking to position itself as an alternative to the Dravidian majors.

However, after DMK's support to DMDK in the recent Assembly session, there has been a softening of stance and today's developments show a new churning in state politics ahead of state Assembly polls next year.
DMK leader Stalin told reporters later that his party has deputed Rajya Sabha MPs Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva to the delegation.