The protests being staged here against the release of water to Tamil Nadu from State reservoirs entered the tenth day on Saturday, with a good number of activists from various associations staging demonstrations to express their solidarity.
The district witnessed at least 50 protest rallies and demonstrations in different parts of Mandya, Maddur, Srirangapatna, Pandavapura, K.R. Pet, Malavalli, Nagamangala and Bharati Nagar.
The agitators burnt effigies and posters of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
They also raised slogans against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had chaired the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meeting, for recommending releasing 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
On Saturday, too, the movement of vehicles on various roads, mainly on the Bangalore–Mysore Highway, was affected because of protest demonstrations.
Members of L.R. Shivaramegowda fans club and BSR Congress took out protest rallies on Bangalore-Mysore Highway and blocked traffic for a while.
Members of the Karnataka Film Producers’ Association, under the leadership of Sa.Ra. Govindu, expressed their solidarity to the Mandya Zilla Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti’s protest by participating in it.
Mr. Govindu and others urged the Union government not to succumb to the ‘pressure politics’ of Tamil Nadu government.
Call for resignations
Meanwhile, members of the samiti have urged the Union Ministers from Karnataka, including External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, to resign from their posts and to join the ongoing Cauvery agitations.
The Union Ministers can effectively put pressure on Mr. Singh if they resign, they said.
Former MLA L.R. Shivaramegowda and others also took part in the protests.
