Demanding that the UPA government at the Centre should not come out with the final notification on Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s Award till Karnataka government’s petition regarding the sharing of Cauvery water was disposed, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday declared that it would launch an agitation against the Congress in every street in the State if the centre did not assure Karnataka that it would not go ahead with notification of the Award in a hurry.
Addressing a special meeting of the BJP’s Bangalore city workers and elected representatives at the Bangalore Palace Grounds, Party National General Secretary Ananth Kumar said: “If the Centre comes out with a final notification on the Tribunal’s Award even before the Supreme Court disposes Karnataka’s plea, it would not only go against the principles of justice, but also be a death sentence for Karnataka.”
He demanded that the Centre should come out with an assurance to the people of the State that it would not act against their interests by notifying the award in a hurry.
Accusing the UPA of showing step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka in various aspects, Mr. Kumar alleged that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had declined to give an appointment to Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to meet him and explain Karnataka’s position with respect to Cauvery. The Prime Minister had also declined to meet other leaders from Karnataka including former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and BJP leaders from Karnataka who too wanted to discuss on Cauvery issue, he said.
Mr. Kumar urged all the four Union ministers from Karnataka – Mallikarjun Kharge, M. Veerappa Moily, K. Rehman Khan and K. H. Muniyappa -- to meet the prime minister and persuade him to come out with an assurance to people of Karnataka that it would not notify the award in a hurry.
He said that people of Bangalore would also face the problem if the Award was notified in a hurry as the country’s IT capital needs 30 tmc of Cauvery water to handle its drinking water requirements.
