The Opposition DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu on Monday kept the agitation for Cauvery Management Board(CMB) alive, as a prelude to the 5 April state-wide bandh, which resulted in road blockades in various parts of the state.

Two DMK workers allegedly attempted self-immolation while protesting in Coimbatore, police said. The agitations took place in several parts of the state over the issue.

The DMK-led Opposition parties had yesterday called for a state-wide shutdown on 5 April, seeking constitution of the CMB by Centre.

According to DMK leadership, the agitations will not end on 5 April, the state-wide bandh day and continue till the constitution of CMB by the Central government.

While the agitation of DMK is to continue till 5th of the month, the farmers, traders and associations in the state are planning to have agitations including road, rail, airport blockades and fasting on Tuesday.

On 6 April, the DMDK is organising a protest in Thiruvarur, the Cauvery delta region and on 11 April the PMK and traders’ association has announced a state-wide bandh. In a statement released to the media on Monday, PMK has announced support to all the agitation for CMB in the state.

Meanwhile, a group of farmers and members of some fringe outfits today gathered in front of the district collectorates in the state and raised slogans seeking the constitution of the CMB immediately.

According to the police, incidents of road blockades by members of various political parties were also reported in the state.

In another turn of events, the ruling AIADMK, already in the dock for not pressurising the Central BJP leadership for the CMB, faced a set-back when the party Rajya Sabha MP S Muthukaruppan sent his resignation letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, as he had announced a few days ago.

What went wrong is the fact that his resignation letter, a copy of which was circulated to journalists, was found to be not in the appropriate format and hence most likely may be rejected.

The general format for the resignation is that it must be a one-line statement making clear the member’s intention to resign from the house. The letter must not elaborate on the reasons for the member’s decision to quit. But the MP elaborated the reasons for his resignation in a two-page letter written in Tamil.