MDMK general secretary Vaiko today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed several issues, including the repeal of POTA and interlinking of peninsular rivers.After the meeting, the MDMK leader said, ‘‘I welcomed the Cabinet decision to repeal POTA, but it has to be done with retrospective effect because there are several unfortunate people languishing in jails even now.’’The Cabinet decision is of special significance to the MDMK and DMK, which had pressed for the repeal in the wake of Vaiko’s arrest. Significantly, the MDMK and the DMK had supported POTA as part of the NDA coalition. Rival AIADMK is strongly opposed to the repeal.Bristling from his dramatic arrest and release on the orders of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa, Vaiko said she was bluffing when she showered praise on Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday. ‘‘Even Goebbels would seem like a pygmy compared to Jayalalithaa,’’ Vaiko said. ‘‘No decent woman could have uttered the words that she did about Sonia during the election campaign.’’At the meeting with the PM, Vaiko also raised the issue of interlinking of peninsular rivers and said Singh had assured him that the Centre would take it up on priority. ‘‘The PM assured me that he has issued instructions to expedite the feasibility report on it,’’ said Vaiko.In a memorandum he submitted to Singh, Vaiko requested him to take necessary steps for nationalisation of inter-state rivers and interlinking of peninsular rivers. These steps alone could solve the problem of the Cauvery dispute and recurring floods and drought in the area, he said.
