THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As political parties in the state wind up their vociferous campaign for a new dam in Mullaperiyar temporarily to create a ‘conducive atmosphere’ for talks with Tamil Nadu, the uncertain phase ahead has already created confusion among the cadre of both national and regional parties in the state.The parties have decided to suspend all agitation programmes after an all-party delegation was advised to do so by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amid eruption of violence in the border areas.“The declaration to suspend the stir should have been made by the party only after a proper meeting of functionaries,” Water Resources Minister P J Joseph told ‘Express.’ Joseph, who was on his way back from Roorkee IIT after day-long discussions, said the one-month spacing was a gesture to ease tension over the issue. ‘’We will wait till January 15. There will be no let-up in our demand for a new dam,’’ he said. “The all-party decision is a gesture towards the Prime Minister and it will facilitate easing of tension. It was the Congress and the CPM which were eager to suspend the stir,” Joseph said.Another prominent Kerala Congress leader said: ‘’Kerala is like a relay team which has miserably lagged in the last lap.”“The flaring up of passions across the border and the resultant violence, though the fact remains that miscreants from the Kerala side also had let loose themselves, were the result of the immature stance of a section of Kerala leaders. A situation has arrived wherein an emotionally reacting Tamil Nadu’s rancour cannot be contained,” according to a young Congress Minister of the UDF Government.The stand taken by Ministers K M Mani and P J Joseph has come as a blow to the regional outfit which enjoys an upper hand in the downstream of Mullaperiyar dam.
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