Portrayal of PMK in a poor light before Madras HC unacceptable: Anbumani

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss condemns State govt. for defaming party in Madras High Court. He alleges DMK govt. works with NLCIL to take possession of agricultural lands. He calls for Centre to empower CWMA to share Cauvery water and reduce prices of petrol and diesel.

Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday said the portrayal of the party in a poor light before the Madras High Court by the public prosecutors of the State government was highly condemnable.

Reacting to the denial of permission to the PMK to hold a public meeting in Cuddalore district, he told reporters at Andimadam near Ariyalur that it was unfortunate that the public prosecutors presented a poor picture about the PMK before the court when his party attempted to seek legal remedy to hold a public meeting.

The charges amounted to defaming the image of the PMK, which, according to him, had been working relentlessly for the uplift of the marginalised and the welfare of the people since its formation. The party had every right to question the Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd. (NLCIL) for taking possession of agricultural lands “forcefully”. The DMK government, which was supposed to protect the farmers, had been working in tandem with it, he alleged.

The PMK president said the Centre should give power to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to directly control the dams in Karnataka so as to share water to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry as per the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award.

The CWMA and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRA) had little powers. Similar to the arrangements in place to share water between Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the CWMA should be given powers to directly control the dams in Karnataka. The standing ‘kuruvai’ paddy crop raised in delta areas was under the perilous condition. If water was not released immediately, it would make the task difficult to save the standing crop.

To a question, Dr. Anbumani said a decrease in the prices of domestic gas was not sufficient. As per the dynamic price policy of the Centre, the prices of domestic gas should have been reduced much earlier. The rates of essential commodities had shot up due to the cascading effect of high prices of petrol and diesel. Since the crude oil prices were low in the international market, the Centre should immediately reduce the prices of petrol and diesel as well.