In a debate in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, raised questions about the alliance between the DMK and the Congress. Palaniswami’s concerns stemmed from the Congress government in neighboring Karnataka’s refusal to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu.During the debate, Palaniswami expressed the sentiment of farmers in Tamil Nadu, who believed that the state could have received the much-needed Cauvery water if Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had made a request to his Karnataka counterpart during their meeting in Bengaluru. Palaniswami suggested that such a request could have been made based on the spirit of friendship. However, he also indicated that he had consistently raised the issue with the Prime Minister in the past.
In response to these concerns, Duraimurugan, the Leader of the House and Minister for Water Resources, intervened and emphasized that negotiations with Karnataka had been ongoing for some time. He stated that these negotiations had led to legal action, implying that pursuing talks alone was not sufficient and sometimes led to compromising Tamil Nadu’s rights.
Palaniswami continued to question the DMK’s alliance with the Congress, given the ongoing Cauvery water dispute with Karnataka. Duraimurugan defended the alliance, explaining that political alliances are separate from the principles of individual parties. He likened the relationship between the DMK and the Congress to that of a mother and daughter, suggesting that they have separate agendas and priorities. He emphasized that their alliance under the INDIA bloc was primarily aimed at achieving a common minimum program to challenge the BJP’s political influence.