Protests demanding constitution of Cauvery Management Board (CMB) has intensified in Tamil Nadu. The total bandh and the rail and road rokos called by the opposition parties in the state turned into a huge success with all the parties, except the ruling AIADMK and the BJP, coming together to protest against the state and the central governments for not implementing the Supreme Court’s order in setting up CMB.
Normal life was affected in Tamil Nadu as the DMK-led opposition shutdown gained more support across the state over the Centre’s failure to constitute the CMB. The main arterial Annasalai, leading to the Marina beach in Chennai, turned into a battle ground with several thousands of DMK, Congress, MDMK, VCK and Left party cadres marching along with their leaders opposing the state and the central governments.
Opposition leader and DMK working president M.K. Stalin along with TNCC President Su Thirunavukkarasar, Congress leader K.V. Thangabalu, VCK founder leader Thol Thirumavalavan and Dravida Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani came together and squatted on the road near the Anna Staue. Buses were stopped. All vehicles plying on the main Anna Salai were blocked for more than 30 minutes. The leaders and the cadres were seen holding huge placards and party flags, demanding the immediate constitution of the CMB and justice for the state in getting the Cauvery waters.
Soon, Stalin, Thirumavalavan, Thirunavukkarasar and others were detained as they walked to the nearby Wallajah road to reach the shores of Marina. The police men around cordoned off the road and traffic piled up for more than two kilometres on the Anna Salai.
More than 3,000 buses have stopped in Chennai as a mark of protest and normal life has been affected due to the shutdown. Traders' associations, too, had participated in the shutdown due to which most of the local kirana shops have also had their shutters down.
In several other parts of the state, including Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore, the DMK and other opposition party cadres indulged in road blockades and rail rokos. Road transport between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has also been severely hit as government and private bus operators have decided to stay off the road on Thursday. Buses plying to Bengaluru from Chennai have been stopped near Hosur.
The state on Thursday seemed to have braced its complete strength to oppose the ruling AIADMK and the BJP, demanding the setting up of the CMB. The state has been protesting for the same since March 29 and Thursday was the sixth consecutive day of protests.
Meanwhile, the intensifying protests seems to have irked the ruling BJP in the centre and the AIADMK in the state. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to come down to Chennai to launch the centre’s prestigious Defence Expo project, the protests have turned into a thorn in the flesh for those in power.
While fringe groups like Velmurugan’s Thamizhaga Vazhvurimai katchi and MLA Thamimun Ansari’s party have called for boycotting the IPL matches due in Chennai, sources say many of these groups have decided to go for a black flag protests when Modi is in Chennai. The impromptu meeting of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam with Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit has raised several eyebrows in the political circles, according to sources.
They say the two were forced to call on Purohit, only to get briefed on how the protests will have to be diluted before Prime Minister Modi’s arrival in Chennai. On Thursday, when the protests reached its dizzying heights, BJP’s Tamil Nadu President Tamilisai Soundararajan was seen rushing to the Raj Bahvan to meet the governor.
The intensifying Cauvery protests across the state and the Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi for 58th consecutive day have caused a major damage to the ruling parties. The BJP, in particular, is looking for a face saver in this regard through the ruling subservient AIADMK in the state.