The former Chief Minister and president of the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) B.S. Yeddyurappa has alleged that Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has failed in taking the Opposition into confidence while dealing with the Cauvery issue.
Speaking to presspersons here on Monday, Mr. Yeddyurappa said that acting like a dictator, Mr. Shettar took unilateral decision to release water from the Cauvery in the wake of the apex court order and never bothered to discuss the issue with the Opposition parties.
He questioned the rationale behind the Chief Minister’s move to lead a delegation to meet the Prime Minister after having made the reservoir empty. “What assurance the Prime Minister can give to the Chief Minister who has earlier boycotted the CRA meeting?” he asked.
No alliance
To a query on BJP national president Rajnath Singh’s reported willingness to have talks with him ahead of the Assembly elections, Mr. Yeddyurappa clarified that there was no question of having any alliance with the BJP, where he was “backstabbed”. He termed it as an attempt to mislead the people about his new party by creating confusion among them.
He expressed confidence that the Election Commission would allot Coconut as the symbol to the party in a couple of days.
Mr. Yeddyurappa termed the election to the urban local bodies as an opportunity for his party to showcase its strength ahead of the Assembly polls. He said that his party would field candidates in all the urban local bodies except Dakshina Kannada.