AIADMK alleges Centre of politicising the Cauvery water row

The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday accused the Centre of politicising the Cauvery water sharing issue and asked it to withdraw the petition submitted on Monday seeking modification in the Supreme Court order.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MPs, led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai, took out a protest march from Parliament House to the Prime Minister's Office in South Block after the 49-member contingent was allegedly denied permission to meet the PM. "The central government is engaged a political game. They want to politicise the issue," Thambidurai told reporters after the march was stopped by the security personnel in front of the PMO.

"We want them to withdraw the modification petition submitted in the apex court yesterday and constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). The Centre is duty bound to uphold the majesty of law, decision of Supreme Court and final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal," the Dy Speaker said.

A seven-member team of MPs, later, met the PMO officials and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention in constituting the CMB. The AIADMK MPs, in their memorandum, accused the Centre taking a stand against Tamil Nadu and its farming community.

"We were shocked to hear that the Government of India has filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3, 2016, inter alia praying that the directions of the Supreme Court to set up a Cauvery Management Board be reviewed and recalled. "This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Government of India has been taking thus far. The stand taken by the Government of India is against the State of Tamil Nadu and its farming community," it said.