Cauvery verdict: All party meet called by Tamil Nadu govt begins

All party meet called by Tamil Nadu government to discuss the next course of action on the Cauvery verdict begins in Chennai.

Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy presides over the meeting. The meeting in Chennai is attended by representatives of 30 political parties and 14 farmers' associations.

The parties and associations will decide whether to file a review petition against the apex court's verdict, according to the reports.

The New Indian Express reported that two representatives from each party and one from each farmers' association will take part in the meeting.

The all-party meeting on Cauvery comes after a gap of several years. A similar meet was held during the previous DMK regime when M Karunandihi was the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister has invited all other parties to participate in the meeting including the arch-rival the DMK.

His announcement came hours after DMK's working President MK Stalin called for an all-party meeting on February 23 to discuss the Supreme Court's verdict on the Cauvery dispute. In a statement, Stalin had said that the DMK would invite not just parties like the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), VCK and MDMK but also the ruling AIADMK and the BJP.

However, soon after the CM's announcement, DMK cancelled its all-party meeting and said that Leader of Opposition MK Stalin will participate in the meeting on February 22.

The Supreme Court had on February 16 directed the Karnataka government to release 177.25 tmcft of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, reducing the quantum specified by the tribunal in 2007.

Stalin had hit out at the government, saying that Tamil Nadu has been cheated out of its share of water while Karnataka, which did not honour any of the earlier orders of the court, has got a higher share. He also alleged that the ruling AIADMK, with its carelessness, lost all the rights that DMK leader and ex-CM Karunanidhi had achieved for the state in the Cauvery matter.

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