JD(S) to decide on resignations today

Deve Gowda returns after briefing Prime Minister on ground realities

The legislative party meeting of Janata Dal (Secular), which was to be held on Tuesday, to take a final decision on the resignation of its Mandya MLAs and MP, has been postponed to Wednesday.

Speaking to The Hindu, JD(S) spokesperson Y.S.V. Datta said that Wednesday’s meeting would decide on whether the resignation letters of the four MLAs and one MP from Mandya should be submitted to the Speakers of the Legislative Assembly and the Lok Sabha.

He said that Adichunchanagiri seer Balagangadharanatha Swami and Suttur seer Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami held a meeting of elected representatives of the Cauvery basin and MLAs of Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural and Ramanagaram districts in Bangalore on Tuesday. The decisions made at the meeting would be shared at the legislative meeting on Wednesday. This would help the JD(S) take a final decision.

Protesting against the release of 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu as directed by the Cauvery River Authority, the four MLAs and one MP from Mandya had submitted their resignation letters to party State president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Monday.

Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who returned from Delhi, told presspersons that he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the intention of briefing him on the ground realities in Karnataka. He said Tamil Nadu was indulging in a misinformation campaign against Karnataka, accusing it of not abiding by the Supreme Court directive and the CRA decision. There were certain facts which were not known to Mr. Singh and he tried to convince him of them.

In farmers’ interests

Regretting the allegations that his meeting was politically motivated, Mr. Gowda said it was improper to politicise the issue. His meeting was aimed at protecting the interests of State farmers.

Calling upon the protesting farmers to maintain restraint, he cautioned that showing disrespect to the Prime Minister, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the Supreme Court would be counterproductive for Karnataka. He was not against protesting peacefully, but disrespect should not be shown during the protest.

He said it was natural for farmers to get hurt when water was released during their hour of distress, however it was inevitable. A decision in this regard had been taken by weighing the pros and cons. It was not right to find fault with the decision, he added.