NEW DELHI: A political delegation from Kerala, which met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday, decided to call off the agitation near the Mullaiperiyar dam site to create “a conducive atmosphere” to solve the crisis which has badly affected the state’s ties with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.The political parties from Kerala took the decision after the PM told them to “take every possible step” to bring back normalcy in the border areas of both the states. “PM asked us to do whatever possible in our limits to improve the relations between the two states. We assured all co-operation,” Kerala CM Oommen Chandy said after meeting the PM.The decision to call off the agitation, however, was not unanimous. While all prominent parties, including the Congress, the CPM and the CPI has agreed to the decision, smaller parties, including Kerala Congress (M), are yet to take a call. The CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said that his party agrees to the decision but will discuss the matter with local party units.The PM apparently expressed his inability to intervene directly as the matter is before the Supreme Court. Kerala leaders also claimed the PM assured them that CISF will not be deployed at the dam if the state does not agree to it.The delegation told Singh that both the states share a mutually cooperative relationship that has stood the test of time and the dam itself an example for this. Chandy also said Kerala has no “hidden agenda” in demanding a new dam. Meanwhile, a meeting convened by the Water Resources Ministry to discuss the issue has been cancelled as Tamil Nadu has conveyed that it will participate in any meeting only after the SC-appointed Empowered Committee’s report is out.
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