The Deputy Chief Minister tells the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly that it was better to wait for the Supreme Court’s deadline of March 29 for constituting the Board to end.

Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Monday rejected Opposition leader and DMK working president M.K. Stalin’s suggestion to the ruling AIADMK to vote against the BJP government in the no-confidence motion moved by the Telugu Desam party.

Mr Panneerselvam on the floor of the Legislative Assembly contended that the motion had nothing to do with the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board. It was better to wait for the Supreme Court’s deadline of March 29 for constituting the Board to end.

Mr. Stalin in his speech had said the AIADMK government should advise its 37 Lok Sabha MPs to vote against the BJP government to bring pressure on the Centre even though the motion was unlikely to succeed.

Responding to this, Mr. Panneerselvam explained that the Supreme Court had granted six weeks’ time to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and Tamil Nadu should wait till March 29 when the deadline would end. “If it does not happen we will once again convene an all-party meeting to chalk out the next course of action.

“We have waited so far and let us wait till the last date. As far as the Cauvery Water dispute is concerned we will not give up the rights secured by our leader Amma (former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa). The AIADMK MPs have been raising the issue for the last one week and the Lok Sabha proceedings have been affected. In political history no such incident has happened so far in support of an issue concerning Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Mr Panneerselvam added that he could not agree with Mr Stalin’s argument that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had withdrawn his party’s support to the BJP government and recalled him ministers from the Union Cabinet to uphold the rights of his State. He said that the Telugu Desam party was a part of the government at the Centre for the last four-and-a-half years.

“The no-confidence motion is purely connected with the issue of Andhra Pradesh and it has nothing to do with the constitution Cauvery Management Board and the same could not be linked with it,” he contended.