An-all party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday to resolve the Mahadayi water sharing dispute with Goa has ended in a deadlock as ruling Congress and Opposition BJP members indulged in accusations even though the Chief Minister said he will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the latter’s intervention.
While BJP members wanted the Congress leaders to convince their Goan counterparts to allow their Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to settle the issue amicably, the JD(S) and the Congress leaders sought the Prime Minister’s intervention for amicable settlement of the dispute.
Karnataka has been appealing to Goa to share 7.56 tmcft of water from Mahadayi for drinking water purpose in drought-hit Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot and Belagavi districts. Currently, the issue was pending before the Mahaydai Water Disputes Tribunal and Karnataka is keen on an out-of-court settlement.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, who called the meeting after the State-wide bandh on Thursday seeking the Centre’s intervention to resolve the matter, said that he would write to Mr. Modi once again seeking his time to meet an all-party delegation from the State.
The Chief Minister also said he was ready to attend a meeting convened by his Goa counterpart to discuss the issue.
Earlier, Jagadish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa, leaders of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and Council respectively, and Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi (BJP) indulged in a heated exchange with JD(S) MLA N.H. Konaraddy when the latter said that the Prime Minister should convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra for resolving the issue expeditiously.
The BJP leaders, particularly Mr. Shettar, took exception to the suggestion and told JD(S) and Congress leaders not to put pressure on Mr. Modi on the matter. They said Mr. Siddaramaiah should make efforts to convince the Congress leaders in Goa on sharing of water and bring them to the negotiating table.
Several Ministers, including M.B. Patil, H.K. Patil, and T.B. Jayachandra, attended the meeting. JD(S) leaders H.D. Kumaraswamy, Basavaraj Horatti, and H.D. Revanna did not turn up.
