The budget is scheduled to be presented in the Legislative Assembly on August 5. This will be followed by the presentation of the Agriculture Budget on August 6. In this context, a meeting was held today to gather farmers’ opinions for the Agriculture Budget. Farmers who participated in this meeting have expressed opposition to Chief Minister Vijay traveling to Karnataka to hold talks regarding the Mekedatu dam.

Ministers Vinod, Anand, Sengottaiyan, Venkataraman, Srinath, Vijay Balaji, Kamali, and others attended this meeting held in the conference hall of the Chennai Anna Centenary Library.
Representatives of farmers from across Tamil Nadu took part in this meeting. They had put forward key demands regarding subsidies for farmers, loan waivers, and similar issues. It was at this meeting that opposition was also expressed to Chief Minister Vijay traveling to Karnataka to discuss the Mekedatu issue. Nearly 41 farmers spoke at the event. Of them, most opposed Chief Minister Vijay’s visit to Karnataka.

`The Supreme Court rulings themselves are against negotiations. In that case, why should we hold talks? Sivakumar will only invite us there to soften our stance. Moreover, even after the news was released that the Chief Minister was going to Karnataka, they are still speaking against Tamil Nadu there. Why should we talk to them? We should deal with this issue only through legal means,' they said.
Only a few have said that the Chief Minister should go to Karnataka and hold talks without holding on to old disputes in mind.
Ministers have also assured that they will convey your views to the Chief Minister.
Earlier, it had been reported that Chief Minister Vijay would be visiting Karnataka on August 3 to discuss the Mekedatu issue.
