Mullaperiyar dam issue: VM Sudheeran wants all-party meeting

KOCHI: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee ( KPCC) president VM Sudheeran has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to call for an all-party meeting to discuss the Mullaperiyar dam issue.

Sudheeran has asked for the meeting in a letter to the chief minister. He had earlier said that an all-party meeting would help the state to take a clear stand on the Mullaperiyar issue.

His statement comes in the context of Vijayan's comment that the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee's report stating that the dam is strong cannot be ignored. The Kerala chief minister had said a new dam should be constructed through peaceful negotiations with Tamil Nadu.

'DIFFERENT DECISION'
Sudheeran has been maintaining that the statement of the chief minister is diametrically opposite to the decision of the previous all-party meeting that was organised when the UDF was then in power.

Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also said the government should call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

He said that the chief minister has not changed his statement. According to him, Vijayan's statement will adversely affect Kerala in the case on the issue pending in the Supreme Court.