Chennai: The Cauvery row took centrestage after Rajnikanth warned the Narendra Modi government that it would earn the wrath of Tamil Nadu people if the Cauvery Management Board was not formed soon.
He appealed to Chennai Super Kings players to wear black badges during the upcoming cricket matches to express their solidarity with the people of Tamil Nadu. The state has been asking the Centre to comply with the Supreme Court order in formulating a scheme or establishing a board to monitor Cauvery water releases from Karnataka.
On Sunday, Rajinikanth, who is gearing up to form his own political party, shared the stage with actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan in a four-hour silent protest. Fans turned up in large numbers to catch a glimpse of the stars, disrupting traffic for at least two hours near the protest venue in Chennai.
Earlier, a bandh called by the DMK and its associate parties evoked good response. Most shops remained closed and bus services were badly affected. The bandh also affected train services in some places as protesters staged rail rokos. DMK working president M K Stalin, TNCC chief S Thirunavukkarasar, Dravida Kazhagam leader K Veeramani, and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan were arrested by the police for blocking roads.
SC raps Centre
Amid heated politics over Cauvery water sharing, the Supreme Court criticised the Centre for delaying implementation of its February 16 verdict and asked the government to show its bona fides by submitting a draft scheme by May 3 to ensure the mandated distribution of water. The court’s order came on a contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu accusing cabinet secretary P K Sinha and water resources secretary U P Singh of deliberately disobeying the court’s direction to frame a scheme for implementation in six weeks of the order that ended on March.
