Even as the State government has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the Cauvery water sharing row, the State Congress on Thursday attacked him by accusing him of being “partisan” towards the Congress-ruled State and denying an appointment to hear the State’s plea.
The legal experts who participated in a meeting convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Thursday to review the State’s preparations for presenting arguments before the Cauvery Supervisory Committee on September 19 and the Supreme Court on September 20, cited a clause under the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal order and advised to the government to seek Mr. Modi’s intervention to resolve the dispute amicably.
During the two-hour-long meeting, legal experts and retired judges of the Supreme Court suggested that the Chief Minister lead an all-party delegation to Delhi to convince the Prime Minister about the need for intervention to resolve the water dispute between the two States.
They told the government to demand strongly before the supervisory committee to send an experts’ team to study the “fast depleting water-level” in the Cauvery basin reservoirs following release of water at 12,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu till September 20.
Letter to Jayalalithaa
Meanwhile, in the wake of Tamil Nadu bandh called on Friday, Mr. Siddaramaiah sent one more letter appealing to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take steps to ensure peace and protection of Kannada-speaking people and their properties in Tamil Nadu.
“I would request you to kindly take all steps to ensure that no untoward incident takes place and the lives and properties of Kannada-speaking people in Tamil Nadu are protected,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
While the issue of Cauvery water sharing is being adjudicated by the courts and looked into by the supervisory committee, no benefit can be had by holding bandhs and agitations, he said.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Dinesh Gundu Rao alleged that Mr. Modi was pursuing the agenda of making the country “Congress-mukt Bharat” by not coming to the aide of Karnataka. It was an unhealthy sign on the part of the Prime Minister to be biased towards a non-BJP ruled State, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy tweeting rather than responding to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s appeal to convene a meeting of the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to resolve the Cauvery row.
Dinesh Gundu Rao, KPCC working president
State’s senior counsel Mohan Kataraki himself has made it clear that the Prime Minister’s intervention at this juncture is not possible. It is common sense that the Executive has little role when the Judiciary is seized of the matter.
B.S. Yeddyurappa, BJPStatepresident
