Minister refutes Jaya's charges on Cauvery

Chennai, Apr 14: Denying AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa's charge that Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had not acted in the interest of the state on the Cauvery issue, Tamil Nadu Public Works Minister Duraimurugan has asserted the DMK Government would not go with Karnataka on the vexed issue at any stage.

In a letter to Ms Jayalalithaa, a copy of which was circulated to the media here, he said for the past two months, Karnataka had been saying it would approach the Supreme Court on the issue.

However, Ms Jayalalithaa's apprehension that the Supreme Court might restrain the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal from hearing Tamil Nadu's review petition was ''baseless,'' he said.

Even if Karnataka moved the Apex Court, there was no possibility for restraining the Tribunal or transferring the petition to the SC, the Minister clarified.

Mr Duraimurgan charged the Leader of the Opposition had hurled baseless allegations against the government instead of taking part in the all-party meeting convened tomorrow and giving suggestions to find a solution to the problem.

Replying to Ms Jayalalithaa's charge that the government had not circulated the draft review petition to her party to study and discuss it at the all-party meeting, he said the clarificatory petition, to be filed before the Tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes, had not been finalised yet.

The all-party meeting had been convened to elicit the views of political leaders and share the government's opinion before finalising the petition and filing before the Tribunal, he explained.

The government had convened the meeting in the hope the political leaders would have studied the Tribunal's order and have arrived at a conclusion on procedures to be adopted and clarifications to be sought from the Tribunal, he added.

UNI