Jaya warns of direct action on Cauvery issue

Chennai, Mar 7 (UNI) Charging Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi with having ''failed'' to take steps for the gazette notification of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final award, AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today warned of her party's direct intervention in the issue.

''The AIADMK cannot remain idle without protecting the interest of farmers. It has come to a stage to take a direct action in the issue. I will soon make an announcement on it,'' she said in a statement here.

Dismissing as ''fraud'' Mr Karunanidhi's contention that the gazette notification could not be done as the state was planning to prefer an appeal before the Tribunal, Ms Jayalalithaa dared him to get legal opinion from senior counsels like Mr K Parasaran in the matter.

If such an opinion was expressed, the AIADMK was prepared to appoint a team of legal experts for a debate on the issue, she said.

The former Chief Minister said Mr Karunanidhi had exposed his ''true face'' by making Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz to issue a statement that it was impossible to notify the final award in gazette at present.

The final award had been got after a struggle of 16 years, but it was a matter of regret that Mr Karunanidhi, who hailed from the Cauvery delta area, was keen to put it in cold storage, she said.

Ms Jayalalithaa alleged that the Chief Minister was prepared to sacrifice the state's interests for selfish reasons as his family was owning seven satellite channels in Karnataka.

UNI