The Hindu : Cong., Left should unite against AIADMK: Ramadoss

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 30, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Cong., Left should unite against AIADMK: Ramadoss

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI DEC. 29. The PMK founder leader, S. Ramdoss, today asked the Congress and the Left parties to sink their differences with the rest of the Opposition and unite to oppose the AIADMK in the coming byelection for the Sattankulam Assembly seat.

Talking to presspersons here, he regretted that there were "unwanted" pre-conditions for deciding upon a common candidate and said the AIADMK could be "taught a lesson" by consolidating the negative votes. While the Congress had an open mind on the issue, it was the Marxists who demanded the exit of the DMK and the PMK from the National Democratic Alliance.

The `national agenda for governance' had not been flouted so far by the Central Government and in the event of the `Hindutva' gaining ground, the PMK would walk out of the NDA, alongwith the DMK, said Dr. Ramdoss, answering a query.

He discounted the possibility of the AIADMK entering an alliance with the BJP and said the NDA would continue to retain its identity.

Reiterating the PMK demand for bifurcation of the State, Dr. Ramdoss sought to explain that good governance was possible only in small States. The PMK would conduct a national-level seminar in Chennai early next year to press the issue and the Chief Ministers of the recently formed States would be invited.

Welcoming the Prime Minister's statement that necessary amendments would be brought for prosecution of erring judicial officers, he said complaints of judicial corruption had been on the rise and the higher judiciary should enquire into the charges.

On the Cauvery issue, the PMK chief said 6.5 lakh acres of kuruvai crop had withered, resulting in a loss of Rs. 1,200 crores, and the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, was to blame. Had she attended the Cauvery Regulatory Authority meeting, Tamil Nadu would have received water under the `distress sharing' formula. He urged the Chief Minister to visit Bangalore to ensure release of 15 tmcft water to save the samba crop in the delta districts.

He saw no political significance in her meeting with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

`File case against Kerala'

Tamil Nadu, he said, should immediately file a case against the Kerala Government for attempting to construct a weir across the Bhavani. The Cauvery Tribunal's interim order which stated that no dam should be constructed across the river should be the basis for filing the case. The west flowing rivers in Kerala, which drained into the Arabian Sea, should be diverted. Similarly, by diverting the east flowing Godavari and the Mahanadhi into the heartland, lakhs of acres in the Rayalseema region and northern Tamil Nadu could be irrigated.

He accused the AIADMK Government of following a "name sake" reservation policy and wanted it to emulate Karnataka in according reservation to backward regions too. The spirit of social justice had ceased to exist after the reservation for rural students had stopped, he said, calling for an amendment to prevent judicial intervention in the reservation policy. "Since the AIADMK does not care for social justice, the DMK should spearhead the demand for an amendment to Article 371."

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