Chennai, Aug 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin on Thursday challenged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to respond to the Opposition’s questions over the Cauvery water dispute, accusing the three-month-old TVK government of failing to address farmers’ concerns.
Speaking to reporters after Agriculture Minister R. Vinoth presented the TVK government’s first Agriculture Budget in the Assembly, Udhayanidhi said farmers had been among the worst affected since the new government assumed office.
Vinoth delivered the Agriculture Budget speech for about 129 minutes, outlining schemes and measures for the farm sector. Udhayanidhi, however, claimed the Budget offered little clarity on key issues confronting farmers, particularly crop loan waiver and Cauvery water.
He alleged that farmers had been disappointed over the past three months as the government had failed to fulfil its promise on farm loan waiver. He also accused the TVK government of renaming and re-announcing schemes introduced by the previous DMK government.
Udhayanidhi said the Chief Minister had promised during the election campaign to waive crop loans for farmers cultivating up to five acres. Still, he claimed no concrete steps had been announced to implement the assurance.
Turning to the Cauvery dispute, he said Karnataka had not released the required water and had made its position clear on further releases.
He referred to Vijay’s proposed visit to Karnataka for talks, saying the Karnataka Chief Minister had subsequently asked him not to visit while maintaining that additional water could not be released.
Udhayanidhi said the DMK had repeatedly demanded an all-party meeting on the Cauvery issue to demonstrate unity in protecting the State’s water rights. He alleged that the Chief Minister had not responded to the demand.
The Opposition has written to the Assembly Speaker seeking permission to move an urgent resolution on Friday to discuss farmers’ problems, he said.
“We are waiting, like the people of Tamil Nadu and the farming community, for the Chief Minister to answer our questions on the Cauvery issue, if he can,” Udhayanidhi said.
Explaining why DMK legislators attended the Assembly wearing black shirts, he said farmers had been facing difficulties and staging protests for the past three months. The Opposition MLAs wore black as a mark of solidarity with them, he added.
Source: IANS
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