: Members of the Farmers Association for Linking South Indian Rivers resorted to a campaign here on Tuesday urging the electorate not to vote for the BJP candidate for the Thanjavur Assembly constituency.

Led by its president P. Ayyakannu, members of the association, distributed pamphlets to the public, traders and commuters near the Old Bus Stand here that reminded the voters of Thanjavur constituency of the “betrayal’’ of the BJP in the Cauvery issue and urged them not to vote for the BJP candidate M.S. Ramalingam. Voters must ensure that he lost his deposit.

He observed that the BJP had betrayed Tamil Nadu for getting votes in Karnataka and now it had come to the delta voters seeking their votes. It must not be allowed, he said. The BJP’s ‘opposition’ to the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board would render the delta to a desert as farmers would not be able to raise and cultivate at least one crop a year, he noted.

Tiruchi

The State unit of the Bharathiya Kisan Sangam has urged the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board expeditiously to enable to enforcement of the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal. In a resolution adopted at its consultative meeting held here recently, it urged the Centre to form an expert committee to explore the feasibility of diverting excess flow of west-flowing rivers towards Tamil Nadu. The Central and State governments should take steps to renovate irrigation tanks in Tamil Nadu and enable effective conservation of rainwater. Check dams should be built across the Cauvery and the Coleroon wherever feasible. Steps should be taken to increase the forest cover in the State. The State president S.Sundarrajan presided.