AIADMK Holds Statewide Protest Over Cauvery, Farm Loan Waiver; EPS Leads Thanjavur Stir as Velumani, Viswanathan Skip

The AIADMK held protest demonstrations across Tamil Nadu on August 14, accusing the ruling TVK government led by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of a lethargic approach to the Cauvery and Mekedatu dam disputes and of reneging on its election promise to fully waive farm loans taken from cooperative institutions.

The protests also highlighted the plight of delta district farmers who could not take up Kuruvai crop cultivation this season for want of irrigation water, with the Cauvery river running dry in several stretches.

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami led the protest in Thanjavur, the state's rice bowl, criticising the Vijay government's handling of both the loan-waiver promise and the Cauvery dispute.

However, dissident AIADMK leaders and former ministers S.P. Velumani and Natham R. Viswanathan, who had been assigned to lead the protests in Theni and Ramanathapuram districts respectively, wrote to the party leadership saying they would not take part, citing the party's failure to restore posts held by leaders removed after this year's Assembly election defeat.