Thanjavur: The DMK has no moral right to convene an all-party meeting as it has betrayed the people of Tamil Nadu for long on the Cauvery issue, said Pon Radhakrishnan, union minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping.

Talking to media persons here today, the union minister said this was nothing but a move by the DMK to project and establish Stalin as the party’s political heir. Only parties that longed to join the DMK alliance will attend, he added.

Responding to a query about the charge that the BJP led union government had betrayed the farmers of Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery issue, Pon Radhakrishnan said it was in fact the DMK and the Congress that had let down the people of the state on the issue. He also wanted the farmers in the state to demand that the TN government release a white paper on whoever betrayed the state on the Cauvery issue.

The union minister further stated that efforts are being taken to ensure Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. It was the duty of the BJP to find a permanent solution to the Cauvery dispute, he said and claimed that the union government never said it would not constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

The names of the BJP candidates for the three assembly constituencies would be announced by the party’s central leadership, he said, adding that the state unit had already recommended the names.