PM to visit Tamil Nadu today on Mullaperiyar row

The Mullaperiyar dam row between Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the impasse over Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant might figure during the talks Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is expected to have with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his two-day visit to the state from tomorrow.
Jayalalithaa is likely to call on Singh today evening shortly after his arrival here and may take up a host of issues, including the demand for a financial package.
This is the first visit by Singh to the state after the AIADMK, headed by Jayalalithaa, stormed to power, ousting the DMK, a key UPA partner, in the April Assembly elections. DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday announced he would meet the Prime Minister on Monday and take up the dam row, particularly “preventing attacks against Tamils” in Kerala and increasing the water level of the dam.

The dam row has escalated in recent weeks, with leaders of both states engaging in a war of words. Kerala is insisting on a new dam to replace the 116-year-old structure, citing safety concerns. Tamil Nadu opposes this proposal.
Jayalalithaa has written four letters to the Prime Minister since the issue resurfaced late last month and has taken exception to the National Disaster Manage-ment Authority’s move to form a team of experts to draw up a contingency response plan for the dam, saying it was nothing but “succumbing to the subterfuge” of Kerala. Karuna-nidhi had expressed dissatisfaction over the action taken by the Centre and the state government on the issue.
On the Kudankulam issue, the PM’s recent remarks that the plant would be operationalised in a few weeks did not go well with Jayalalithaa who asked the Centre to allay people’s fears before taking any “precipitate” action.
Villagers in and around Kudankulam have been demanding scrapping of the project citing safety concerns. Some political parties and organisations including actor Vijaykanth’s DMDK, the principal opposition in the Assembly, and Vaiko’s MDMK have announced black-flag demonstrations against the Prime Minister to protest the Centre’s “silence” on the dam issue.
Singh will inaugurate on Monday the 125th birth anniversary function of mathematician legend Srinivasa Ramanujan at Madras University. He will then fly to Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, the native of Home Minister P Chidambaram, to inaugurate the Ramanujan Centre for Higher Mathematics at the Alagappa University.
Security has been beefed up for the Prime Minister’s visit.
Meanwhile, TNCC President B S Gnanadesikan asked DMDK and MDMK to withdraw their proposed protests, saying the Centre and the Prime Minister “are taking all efforts” in the dam issue. Noting that MPs from the state had met Singh and “clearly apprised” him of Tamil Nadu’s stand, in a statement here he said “the Prime Minister is taking all efforts, well aware of our stand.”
“In such a situation, I believe showing any opposition to the Prime Minister must be avoided. I request parties which had announced of black flag demonstration to drop it,” he said.