Centre not anti-Tamil Nadu, working to set up CMB: Nirmala Sitharaman

Amid heightened tension over the CMB delay, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is here to attend the DefExpo at Thiruvidanthai on ECR, said that the Centre was taking all necessary steps to constitute the Cauvery Management Board in view of the Supreme Court order.


     A day after winning an IPL match, CSK captain MS Dhoni visited the DefExpo

Chennai: 

Speaking on the sidelines of the Def Expo here on Wednesday, the Defence Minister said, “It is unacceptable to say that the Centre has taken no steps to implement the Supreme Court’s order to constitute the CMB. The Centre sought an explanation on scheme only after discussion with all the stakeholder states. This is not against the interests of Tamil Nadu.” 

Pointing out that the previous NDA government led by Vajpayee also tried to find a solution to the decades-long Cauvery dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, she recalled, “It was during the Vajpayee government when a dialogue was initiated between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.” 

Recently, the Opposition had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal, who scrapped the purchase of 126 jets at a cost of Rs 526 crore each during the UPA regime in 2005 but inked a fresh pact in 2015 to purchase 36 jets at a much higher rate of Rs 15,070 crore each. In the DefExpo, when asked about the deal, she said, “I will not reveal matters of national security. In fact, the earlier regime too refused to reveal the details of the deal citing national security. Now, they are asking us to divulge it. If we give the details, it won’t just make Congress happy but also the rival nations as it will expose our strength to them,” she said. Taking a dig at the Congress, she added, Sitharaman added, “For him (Rahul Gandhi) to quote the price, he should at least have bought a couple of Rafale aircraft. But, they just negotiated while the IAF complained of shortage of aircraft. After we struck a deal, it is unfair to accuse us of a ‘scam’.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite observing a fast as a sign of protest, to oppose the recent washout of Parliament due to opposition protests, will be visiting Chennai to formally inaugurate the Def Expo on Thursday.