CM lacks guts, says Stalin

DMK president M K Stalin wanted to know why Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and PMK founder S Ramadoss failed to object to Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s assertion that the Salem-Chennai green corridor project would be implemented. "Gadkari made the statement in the presence of the Chief Minister and Dr. Ramadoss. If they had any sense of self-respect, they should have objected to the Minister’s speech at Salem. But the Chief Minister lacked guts," he said.

Gadkari said, "I come from Vidarbha in Maharashtra where 10,000 farmers have committed suicide; but there we have now introduced new schemes to augment incomes for farmers like producing ethanol from sugarcane which in turn is used to generate electricity through introduction of new technologies. I know who crucial water is for agriculture." Gadkari said several states faced water crisis and the proposed Godavari-Cauvery link was the best bet to augment water resources for Andhra and Tamil Nadu. A long-term solution to the water crisis in Tamil Nadu and for its farmers could be found if the Godavari-Cauvery river linkage could be done.