Amid Mekedatu row with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay says 'No compromise on river rights'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Amid Mekedatu row with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay says 'No compromise on river rights'")
Amid Mekedatu row with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu CM Vijay says 'No compromise on river rights' Photograph: (X)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay has taken a firm stance on the escalating Mekedatu dam dispute with Karnataka, asserting that the state will make "no compromise" on its rightful river water shares.
In his first public address after assuming office as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay said that his government would not compromise on secularism, state rights, and river water rights. Elaborating on his promise of clean governance, Chief Minister Vijay acknowledged that it cannot happen magically in a single day, but assured that he would eventually deliver on his promise. Vijay chose to deliver this speech at Trichy East, which is one among the two seats he was elected from. After being elected from Perambur in Chennai and Trichy East(about 250 km from Chennai), Vijay chose to represent Perambur and resigned from Trichy East.
Vijay's comments on river water rights gain significance, as they are perceived as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's response to Karnataka's Chief Minister-designate DK Shivakumar. Recent remarks by Shivakumar regarding Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu project to dam the Cauvery River that flows into Tamil Nadu from Karnataka had sparked controversy.
Shivakumar has maintained that the project will be carried out to meet Karnataka's drinking water needs and that Tamil Nadu has no legal right to stop it. While political leaders from Karnataka maintain that the Mekedatu dam project on the Cauvery river is meant to meet Bengaluru's drinking water requirements, their counterparts in Tamil Nadu express concerns over receiving a reduced share of Cauvery water owing to this project. Vijay had recently written to Prime Minister Modi over this issue.
"A little bit more support would have been better," Vijay said half-jokingly, while reflecting on the poll results. Though Vijay's debutante party, the TVK party, managed to emerge as the single-largest, it did not get a majority of its own. The stability of Vijay's government relies on the support of ally Congress and external backing from CPI, CPI(M), VCK, IUML. While Vijay enjoys the support of the Congress in Tamil Nadu, he must deal with the Congress government in neighbouring Karnataka, where ChiefMinister-designate DMK Shivakumar has been intending to push ahead with the Mekedatu project.
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"Though people regard me as the MLA from Perambur in Chennai, the people of Trichy East are close to my heart... There is no change in that," Vijay said, thanking the voters who helped him win from the agrarian belt of Tamil Nadu. "In all future polls,I have full confidence that I will get your support. I am confident that we will witness all good things during this rule," he said. Further, he urged the people of Trich East to support the TVK candidate who would contest the by-elections.
Attacking both established parties in Tamil Nadu, Vijay accused archrivals DMK and AIADMK of trying to covertly join hands to keep his party from coming to power and disrupting the state's political landscape. Vijay's party coming to power in Tamil Nadu has broken a nearly six-decade-long streak during which only the DMK or AIADMK have ruled the state. "They feared that their loot and corruption would end if Vijay's rule came. DMK and others tried to prevent Vijay's government," he said. Referring to his massive poll win, Vijay claimed that his party's electoral debut had broken the traditional formulae of caste-based voting, cash-for-vote, and religion-based voting.
