Normal life was hit in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday when the traders pulled down their shutters in protest against the Central government’s failure to set up a Cauvery Management Board despite a Supreme Court order.
Tamil Nadu’s ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) also joined the protest by starting their state-wide hunger strike on Tuesday.
In Chennai, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam along with party men participated in a day-long fast at Chepauk.
The ruling AIADMK, which was initially reluctant to take a tough stance against the BJP’s Central government, has finally felt the alienation and pressure being mounted on them from the Opposition parties.
Farmers of the delta region have decided to start their own agitation across the State. In all the district headquarters ministers and senior leaders took part in the hunger strike.
A section of traders along with milk suppliers and pharmacists called for the bandh on Tuesday in the state, though DMK working president M K Stalin appealed to them to postpone it as school examinations are going on.
Though Chennai remained peaceful and partially shut, the Cauvery delta regions like Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Nagai were completely shut down with a very thin presence in government offices.
In Chennai, Asia’s largest perishable commodity market in Koyembedu remained completely shut as traders and farmers took part in the protest with all vigour.
The Opposition DMK’s “road roko” protests are continuing and the state will witness a complete shut down on Thursday.
Farmers in Tamil Nadu have planned a protest march to Chennai, like the one in Maharashtra, to urge the State government to exert pressure on the Centre to form the Cauvery Management Board.
Leaders of various farmers associations from across the state met in Tiruchy on Monday to decide the date and formation of a Joint Action Council to coordinate the protests.
A hunger strike will be observed in Chennai on 12 April. The leaders have asked the farmers not to walk like Maharashtra farmers but come by tractors and bullock carts. They also appealed to the people to hoist black flags in every house on the day of Prime Minister’s arrival.