In a rare display of political unity, parliamentarians from Tamil Nadu, cutting across party lines, including arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday on the Mekedatu dam row.
An all-party delegation of 55 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, explained to the Prime Minister the long struggle in securing the rights of the State on the Cauvery river dispute and handed over a copy of the resolution unanimously passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday. The lone BJP MP and Union Minister, Pon. Radhakrishnan, who was in Chennai, was not part of the delegation. D. Raja (CPI), who is attending his party conclave in Puducherry and E.M. Sudarsana Nachiappan (Congress), who is abroad, also did not join the group.
They urged Mr. Modi to immediately set up the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Water Regulatory Authority and take necessary steps to stop Karnataka from constructing dams at Mekedatu.
While a few AIADMK MPs claimed that the MPs from other parties joined the delegation on their own, the DMK MPs said they joined on Mr. Thambidurai’s invitation. “It is for a common cause. When Thambidurai called us, we asked permission from our leaders Kalaignar [Karunanidhi] and Thalapathi [Stalin]. They allowed us to be part of the delegation,” said Tiruchi N. Siva (DMK).