Kicking alive the agitation demanding the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB)after a brief lull, the Opposition DMK hurled…
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo: Twitter)
Kicking alive the agitation demanding the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB)after a brief lull, the Opposition DMK hurled stones and footwear at Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s convoy at Parthibanur junction in Ramanathapuram district, 540 km south east of Chennai, on Wednesday. Prime minister Narendra Modi also had a taste of the ire of state Opposition parties (black flags)when he visited chennai last month.
The DMK has upped the ante over the Cauvery agitation as the party finds itself cornered over the questions posed by the BJP and AIADMK about what the party did for constituting the CMB during 2007 to 2013 when it shared power with the Congress at the Centre.
Sitharaman was on her way to two remote Dalit villages in the district to inspect the Gram Swraj Abhiyan, Centre’s village self- governance scheme when the DMK activists staging black flag demonstration threw footwear and stones at her convoy of cars.
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Earlier, on her arrival at Madurai airport, the defence minister had told reporters that the CMB could be constituted only with the active participation of all the stakeholders.
“This is something the Centre alone could not do on its own. All stakeholders (read Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry and Kerala ) should sit together and decide on the composition and nature of the Board.”
“Then only we can set up an institution which is acceptable to all the parties concerned,” said Sitharaman.
Later speaking to reporters and media persons, Diwakaran claimed that the DMK activists were staging peaceful demonstration and were provoked by the BJP leaders accompanying the minister.
Even as the DMK activists were waving black flags and hurling stones at the union minister, a delegation of Tamil film personalities called on Governor Banwarilal Purohit and submitted a memorandum requesting him to hasten the process of the constitution of the CMB as the State was facing severe water shortage.
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