BJP asks PM to intervene in Mullaperiyar dispute
PTI | 05:12 PM,Dec 02,2011Thiruvananthapuram,Dec 2(PTI)BJP today wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to urgently intervene in the Mullaperiyar dam issue by calling a meeting of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in his presence to resolve the long-pending dispute. "We demand that the Prime Minister immediately attend to the issue by arranging talks between the two Chief Ministers," BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman told a meet-the-press programme here. She said lack of initiative on the part of the Centre on a delicate issue like this was very much reflective of the complete governance paralysis under UPA government as was evident in most other vital issues like price rise and black money. In sharp contrast, during the NDA rule, the then Prime Minister A B Vajapayee had shown that the central initiative was crucial when inter-state issues cropped up. Whenever issues of water or language came up, Vajpayee had come out with initiatives of his own and called Chief Ministers concerned to talk and come to amicable solutions. When two Kerala ministers visited Delhi some time back in connection with the Mullaperiyar dam issue, Prime Minister should have met them instead of asking Water Resources Minister P K Bansal to deal with them, she said. Now that lot time had already lost, the Prime Minister should intervene without any further delay, she said. Stating that her party's view was that "talks are the best way" to resolve the dispute, the BJP leader said as far as Kerala was concerned, safety of the people was a matter of worry while Tamil Nadu always had anxiety about water and water management.
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