AIADMK leader A Navaneethakrishnan said his threat to commit suicide if the Centre failed to implement the Cauvery Water Management Board by 29 March reflected the mood of the farmers in Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to a television channel, the Rajya Sabha MP reiterated his demand that the Centre must form the board as per the directions of the Supreme Court in its judgment on 16 February.
“I reflect the mood, the mental and economic condition of farmers of Tamil Nadu,” the MP said.
“We expect a favourable decision by Centre. Further course of action will be taken by state government on Cauvery Water Management Board,” he added when asked what the AIADMK government in the state was doing on its part.
Navaneethakrishnan claimed that his party had still not got any “concrete answer from Centre”. He added that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami would take the decision on whether to approach the Supreme Court if the Centre failed to constitute the Board.
Reports say the state government may file a contempt petition in the apex court on 31 March if the Centre failed to honour the verdict.
The suicide remark was made by Navaneethakrishnan in Parliament on Wednesday. His comments were expunged by the chairperson.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu have accused the ruling AIADMK government in the state of failing to make the Centre follow the SC order.
TTV Dinakaran, chief of the newly formed Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), and his party leaders had started a hungerstrike in Chennai on Sunday demanding constitution of the Cauvery Management Board.
In a historic judgment on 16 February, the Supreme Court reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water and increased Karnataka’s share. Tamil Nadu has been demanding creation of the board so that it can be granted the power to open up reservoirs instead of the Karnataka government.
The apex court directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu from its inter-state Biligundlu dam.
The Supreme Court raised the 270 tmcft share of Cauvery water for Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu’s share while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin, saying the issue of drinking water has to be placed on a “higher pedestal”.
In its judgment the apex court gave six weeks time to the Centre to constitute the Board. Both AIADMK and DMK have been demanding that the Modi government do that at the earliest. But AIADMK did not support a no-confidence motion called by some opposition parties against the government.