Ramadoss, Vaiko on same dais at Mullaperiyar meet

Madurai, Apr 2 (UNI) Despite being in rival political camps, PMK Founder-Leader S Ramadoss and MDMK General Secretary Vaiko shared the platform with Tamil Nationalist leaders at a conference here on retrieving the state's rights over the Periyar Dam.

The DMK Government and the Centre came in for sharp criticism for their ''failure to implement the Supreme Court verdict'' directing raising of storage level in the dam to 142 feet.

Tamil Nationalist Movement Leader Pazha Nedumaran, spearheading a movement under the aegis of the Mullaperiyar Dam Rights Retrieval Committee, had organised the meeting last evening.

Besides being a key ally of the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu, the PMK is a constituent of the UPA while the MDMK had recently walked out of the Congress-led alliance at the Centre. Both the leaders exchanged pleasantries on the dais.

Another of the DMK's newfound ally, the DPI, as well the Thevar outfit, MMK in the AIADMK camp, were also represented by their leaders at the meeting apart from leaders of various minor parties.

Dr Ramadoss, who of late had turned out to be a critic of the Karunanidhi Government, prefaced his inaugural address with a plea not to read too much and give political colour to the coming together of the MDMK and the PMK on the issue affecting farmers and the right of the state.

UNI