9 Tamil Nadu parties to start ‘retrieve Cauvery’ march today

CHENNAI: Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu led by the DMK’s MK Stalin will embark on a yathra across districts in the state’s river basin on Saturday to redeem what they term as “federal rights” in what could evolve into a significant political alignment about a year from General elections. Nine political parties will participate in a journey to “retrieve Cauvery” beginning symbolically at the upper Anaicut, a 19th century dam across the Cauvery.

“All party functionaries, leaders, and cadre will participate in the journey,” leader of Opposition MK Stalin said after the culmination of an all-party meeting on the Cauvery dispute. The leaders are expected to meet in Cuddalore district and hold a large public meeting before returning back to Chennai.

The Centre had filed a petition last week with the Supreme Court seeking an extension to implement the Tribunal order citing the impending Assembly elections in Karnataka.


The Tamil Nadu government had filed a petition to initiate contempt proceedings against Centre for not abiding by the February 16 order.

Among resolutions in the DMK led meeting was one to urge the Centre to withdraw its petition and implement the order immediately. A decision to stage a black-flag protest on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Chennai next week for a defence exposition was also taken during the meeting.

The Indian National Congress, in power in Karnataka, stoutly opposes the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board while in Tamil Nadu the party president Thirunavukarasar has sided with the DMK in its raucous attempts to draw attention to the Centre’s failure to implement the Supreme court’s modified order. Congress party sources say the politics behind such a phenomenon is complex: Americai Narayanan, a Congress politician in Tamil Nadu, said: “India as a whole will be strong if its states are strong, and that applies to the Congress party too. It is very clear to us that we need to speak up for regional aspirations.”

The agitations in Tamil Nadu the Cauvery dispute have now endured over five days, snowballing from individual protests staged political parties to collective action led by opposition parties in the state. AIADMK spokespersons have denied the involvement of the BJP in its administrative and party affairs, but the party has remained largely devoid of allies in its political struggle to resolve the Cauvery dispute.