Chennai: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Friday defended his attempt to travel to Bengaluru over the Cauvery river dispute, stating that if rival countries could hold talks to resolve disputes, so could two neighbouring states. Vijay said he is prepared to face “humiliation for the sake of Tamil Nadu” even if there’s a setback at the dialogue table. The debate also turned into political sparring between Vijay and the leader of the opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin.Breaking his silence over the proposed visit, which was shelved after Karnataka chief minister D K Shivakumar said the situation was not conducive for talks, Vijay said the outreach for direct talks was his idea. He was responding to Udhayanidhi, who alleged that there was a lack of transparency on the part of TN govt while Karnataka CM had spoken about the dialogue plan.Replying to a special calling-attention motion on the Cauvery dispute and Mekedatu dam row, CM Vijay said he sees dialogue as a positive step towards resolving the problem and added that he had “no intention to play politics” over the issue.Vijay said his administration would never compromise on Tamil Nadu’s riparian rights, even as it pursues legal and political remedies. He recalled that following a unanimous assembly resolution opposing the dam, the state govt wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Vijay said that after realising the Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti had “not presented the full facts” about the Mekedatu dam project in Parliament, his govt wrote to PM Modi again, citing Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final order and the Supreme Court judgment.The debate quickly turned into a political face-off between Vijay and Udhayanidhi Stalin. Udhayanidhi questioned the govt’s handling of the Cauvery crisis and demanded an all-party meeting.Vijay responded that his govt had already announced a special kuruvai package for farmers. “A party that claims to be political masterminds should read newspapers to know what was happening in the state,’’ he said.The jab drew an immediate counter from Udhayanidhi. “What we are asking for is drought relief, while what the govt has given was special kuruvai package. First, you should understand the difference between the two,’’ he said.“So, reading newspapers is not enough; you should interact with farmers to know ground reality,’’ Udhayanidhi said in a sharp retort.AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami too demanded that the govt to convene an all-party meeting and take necessary measures to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s water rights.
