Chennai,  Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) President and former Union Minister G.K. Vasan on Monday condemned the 'padayatra' taken out by the Karnataka unit of the Congress for the construction of a dam across the Cauvery river at Mekedatu.

In a statement, Vasan -- son of Congress leader late G.K.Moopanar -- said that the DMK and Congress that are in an alliance in Tamil Nadu, should intervene and persuade the Karnataka unit to put an end to this 'Padayatra' for constructing a dam across Mekedatu.

He said that the Cauvery river was the lifeline of Tamil Nadu and constructing a dam across it would adversely affect the life of the farmers of the delta districts of the state. He said that the act of the Karnataka Congress was totally against the interests of the farmers of Tamil Nadu. He demanded that the yatra be called off in the best interests of the people of the two states.

BJP Tamil Nadu state president K. Annamalai had, in a series of tweets on Sunday, asked whether the DMK had decided to give up the rights of the people of Tamil Nadu for the sake of its alliance partner, the Congress.

The Mekedatu dam across the Cauvery river has been a major bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and the Congress unit of Karnataka taking this issue up will be having major repercussions against that party in Tamil Nadu.

The statements of Vasan and Annamalai are aimed at bringing the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress and the ruling DMK on the defense as water has been a major issue of contention between the two states.