CHENNAI: Actor-politician Kamal Haasan has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to quickly set up the Cauvery Water Management Board, telling him the centre needed to dispel the impression that his government was dragging its feet due to elections in Karnataka and “your interest in it.” In a video message to Modi, he said, “I want this belief to be dispelled because people are more important than elections as you well know.” The actor tweeted the video message minutes after Modi reached Chennai on a chopped to attend the DefExpo 70 km from the state capital and later, IIT Madras campus.
Drawing attention to the “crisis” in Tamil Nadu due to a delay on part of the centre, Kamal said, “My name is Kamal Haasan. This is an open video to my honourable Prime Minister. You can easily deliver the justice that Tamil Nadu is seeking.” Public anger over Cauvery waters peaked in the state after the Centre kept sitting on a verdict by the Supreme Court earlier this year, requiring the Central government to set up an authority that would ensure sharing of Cauvery waters between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Puducherry. Haasan had earlier blamed politics for the delay as Karnataka is set to vote its next government in May.
Last week, he said in an interview that the centre was standing in the way of the state receiving justice. The SC, which is hearing petitions to seek implementation of its verdict, has also reprimanded the central government for coming up with excuses to put off setting up the authority. “The Supreme Court has already performed its constitutional role by delivering the judgment. It is now the turn of your government to perform its constitutional duty and implement the order,” Haasan said.
As protests rage across Tamil Nadu over the formation of the Cauvery Management Board, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder Vaiko's close relative set himself on fire. The man has been admitted to a hospital where the condition was said to be “very critical”. A 25 year old man in Tamil Nadu's Erode had also set him ablaze, allegedly over the centre and state government's “inaction” on the Cauvery issue.
