Jayalalithaa confident Prime Minister will be 'neutral' vis-a-vis Cauvery issue

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today exuded confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be 'neutral' vis-a-vis the Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka.

She said it was only fair to give the BJP government some time before it acts on her demand to constitute the Cauvery Management Board.

Holding that all political parties in the state shared common view on constituting the CMB, she said there was no need for an all-party meeting as demanded by DMK chief M Karunanidhi.

Responding to Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar's statement that there was no proposal to set up the CMB, Jayalalithaa said the remarks were not made by Prime Minister Modi or the Minister concerned, i.e Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.

The Chief Minister recalled that she had presented a memorandum to Modi during her meeting with him on June 3, calling for constituting the CMB, among other demands.

She said the Prime Minister had "kindly said that he would take action. He seeks good relations with Tamil Nadu government and wants to help the state. Constituting the CMB is part of the final award (of 2007) of the Cauvery Tribunal and it needs some time to implement it."

"We are confident that the Prime Minster will be neutral in this matter and it is fair that the Centre is given some time," on constituting CMB she said, adding, why Karunanidhi was in a hurry to raise the issue within a week of her Delhi visit.

She charged her arch rival with failing to get the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal notified in a Central gazette despite being in power at Centre and state in 2007 and accused him of considering interests of "family business" in Karnataka in not doing so and ridiculed his demand for an all-party meeting.

She claimed credit for her government for having the final award notified in a central gazette after it moved the Supreme Court in this regard.