The former Housing Minister M.H. Ambareesh, who was conspicuous by his absence at all the meetings and developments relating to the Cauvery river water dispute in the State, has defended his absence and said he was away in the U.S. attending a Kannada conference.
Addressing presspersons on Wednesday after his return, the MLA for Mandya said it was unfortunate that the dispute had snowballed into such a major controversy.
“If I even had an inkling of what could have happened I would have cancelled my trip. I had gone there on invitation by the Kannadigas residing in the U.S.,” he said.
Apologises to people
Apologising to people for being away during the crisis, he lauded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s decision to not release water to Tamil Nadu.