DMK trying to mislead Tamil Nadu people on Cauvery issue, says Union Minister

The BJP today lashed out at the DMK on the Cauvery issue, with senior leader and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan accusing the Dravidian party of trying to mislead people on the inter-state dispute.

However, the BJP will take steps that will benefit the people of the state, he said.

Speaking to reporters at the airport here, the Minister of State for Shipping said DMK Working President M K Stalin and the state Congress unit must ask the Karnataka government why it was not properly releasing water to the lower riparian state, besides questioning it on its opposition to setting up of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

"They (DMK) said all their MLAs were ready to resign on the Cauvery issue. You could have resigned...Why haven't you done that," he said.

Stalin, also the Leader of Opposition, had earlier suggested that all MPs from Tamil Nadu should resign if Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not meet a proposed all-party delegation from the state on the issue of setting up of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).

Further, he last week suggested for en masse resignation of all MLAs in Tamil Nadu in case the centre did not set up the Cauvery panels within the specified time frame.

Stalin had also said his party's MLAs were ready to resign on the issue.

Questioning why the DMK MLAs had not resigned, Radhakrishnan said, "You can talk anything that can mislead people. But the BJP will implement (steps) that will benefit people of Tamil Nadu."