With Jayalalithaa in hospital, Tamil Nadu govt is directionless, says DMK president M Karunanidhi

DMK on Monday said the Tamil Nadu government “lacked proper direction” with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa still in hospital and urged the Governor and the Centre to take appropriate action.

Referring to the Cauvery row, DMK President M Karunanidhi said the upper riparian state Karnataka was “least bothered” about implementing the Supreme Court directives on water release to Tamil Nadu, even as farmers here were keenly watching what the Centre, state and the apex court had to say on the matter.

“It is everybody’s opinion that the state government is lacking direction because the chief minister is in hospital.  Though no all-party meeting or cabinet meeting or special Assembly session had been held on behalf of the AIADMK government, all parties in Tamil Nadu are united in supporting the demands of farmers” like constituting the Cauvery Management Board, he said.

“Since Ministers or the Chief Secretary are not prepared to take any steps in very important matters like the Cauvery issue without consulting the Chief Minister since she is in hospital, there is a passive situation in Tamil Nadu,” he said in a letter to party workers.

In this backdrop, political leaders in the state were individually raising various issues and “the government stand on these must be informed after taking decisions on them”, Karunanidhi said.

“It is the wish of people of the state that the Centre or Tamil Nadu governor (Ch Vidyasgar Rao) should decide and immediately take action,” he said.

“Till the time Chief Minister Jayalalithaa resumes work after recovering, appropriate legal steps should be taken to implement the essential needs of the people of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

This was the request of the people as well as “ours”, he said.

DMK Treasurer M K Stalin had last week demanded that the state government name an interim Chief Minister or a Deputy CM till the time Jayalalithaa returned.

Karunanidhi also slammed the Centre on the Cauvery issue, criticising it for changing its stand on constituting Cauvery Management Board.