Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Saturday assured that the Nadanthai Vazhi Cauvery (Cauvery rejuvenation project) will be implemented once the party is voted to power.

Addressing an election rally along with the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary, T.T.V .Dhinakaran in Thanjavur, he accused the DMK government of putting on hold a project that had obtained in-principle approval from Central government after being proposed by his AIADMK regime. “After repeated representations in the Assembly, during which time the Centre had also allocated ₹11,600 crore for the project’s implementation, the DMK government included it in a policy note but did not implement it,” he charged.

Stating that the project would ensure quality drinking water and improve irrigation in the Cauvery basin, he said it would be speeded up once the AIADMK returned to power. Similarly, necessary steps would be initiated to solve the issues faced by the farmers attached to the Thirumandankudi sugar mill, who had been staging demonstrations for over 1,700 days in support of their demands.

Taking a jibe at Chief Minister M.K. Stalin for walking on a concrete path laid at a sugarcane field during his Namakku Naame campaign in the past, Mr. Palaniswami said Mr. Stalin had no right to call him a “fake farmer”.

Addressing the gathering earlier, Mr. Dhinakaran mocked Mr. Stalin for calling himself a person from the delta. It was the AIADMK government, under former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, which found a permanent solution for the Cauvery dispute and got the final award of the Cauvery Tribunal notified in the gazette, he added.

“The delta is Amma’s fort and not a DMK fort, as claimed by them,” he maintained and called upon the cadre of the parties in the NDA to ensure that Thanjavur district gets back its identity as the fort of the AIADMK by trouncing the ruling party in all eight Assembly constituencies.