Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today categorically ruled out any talks with Karnataka over the Cauvery water problem, dismissing reports that he had discussed the issue with H D Kumaraswamy. “Circumstances do not warrant any fresh talks on the issue. The Tribunal has given its final award after 17 long years. There is no question of talks now,” Karunanidhi said today.Kumaraswamy and his father Deve Gowda were “long time friends,” Karunanidhi told reporters. But, Kumaraswamy had telephoned him on Monday only to greet him on the occasion of Ugadi festival, and Deve Gowda had sent similar greetings through a letter. “There was no mention of Cauvery. News reports that they spoke to me on the issue is totally wrong,” he said.Kumaraswamy had on Tuesday claimed that he had spoken to Karunanidhi and that the latter had “responded positively” about holding talks to resolve the Cauvery imbroglio. Karunanidhi, however, dismissed such reports, saying Kumarasamy had merely conveyed his Ugadi greetings.During the telephonic conversation, Karunanidhi enquired about Kumaraswamy's visit to temples in Thanjavur and Thirunallar in Tamil Nadu recently. “Kumaraswamy said he would be visiting Chennai in another ten days and he would meet me,” Karunanidhi said, adding: “This has no link with the Cauvery issue.” He also had the letter he received from Deve Gowda read out. “There is no scope for any dialogue on Cauvery now,” Karunanidhi said.Asked if there was any reason for Kumarasamy to greet him on Ugadi, Karunanidhi replied it probably was “to thank me for restoring government holiday for Ugadi, which was abolished during AIADMK rule.”Karunanidhi said he was not for having the Tribunal’s final award notified in the Gazette as “it contained certain points that were not favourable to Tamil Nadu”. AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa had undertaken a day’s fast on Sunday demanding immediate notification of the Cauvery award in the Gazette.Meanwhile, MPs of Tamil Nadu and the neighbouring Union Territory of Pondicherry today submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in which they accused the Karnataka government of “deliberately resorting to dilatory tactics with a view to avoid adjudication and implementation of the award of the Tribunal.”The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, which was placed at par with a decree passed by the SC could not be “forestalled, fettered or altered by political pleas and emotional entities,” the memorandum, signed by 36 MPs said.
