Date:08/10/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/10/08/stories/2002100805920100.htm

Front Page

T.N. calls general strike

By Our Special Correspondent

The Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, leading a 'padayatra' to the K R S reservoir from Bangalore on Monday to demonstrate his solidarity with the agitating farmers.

CHENNAI OCT. 7. In a show of solidarity on the Cauvery issue, an all-party meeting here today decided to observe a dawn-to-dusk general strike on Wednesday protesting the refusal of the Karnataka Government to release water as per the directives of the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority.

The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, told reporters that all the parties have unanimously endorsed the general strike call.

Although the main Opposition party, the DMK, boycotted the meeting, it announced support for the strike call.

Ms. Jayalalithaa accused the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, and the Union Law Minister, Jana Krishnamurthy, of abdicating the Centre's responsibility to ensure Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. Although the State Government knew the general strike would not yield water, the meeting wanted to impress upon the Centre and the Karnataka Government that Tamil Nadu was united on the issue.

``We expected to get justice from the Supreme Court,'' she said. While the Union Law Minister had stated that it was for the two States to resolve the issue, and that the Centre could not intervene, the Prime Minister had remarked that the issue was before the Supreme Court. The Centre had thus washed its hands of the matter.

The State Government would be filing the second contempt petition in the Supreme Court tomorrow. The Centre should issue directives to the Karnataka Government under Articles 256 and 365, and if Karnataka failed to comply, the Krishna Government should be dismissed, she said.Karnataka's defiance of Constitutional authorities would lead to Constitutional anarchy in the country, she added.