Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, reacting to the Supreme Court’s directive to the State to continue releasing water to Tamil Nadu at the rate of 2,000 cusecs daily till further orders, has said “there is no water in the reservoirs”.
Drought relief
He expressed his indignation over the Centre’s response to drought in the State and said that as against Rs. 4,702 crore sought by the State to take up relief works, only Rs. 1,782 crore had been released.
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Given the precarious conditions in the State following the failure of rains during both southwest and northeast monsoons, the State would approach the Centre again and make fresh submissions to seek additional funds, said the Chief Minister.
Nanjangud byelection
On the issue of selecting Congress candidate for Nanjangud byelection, which has been necessitated following the resignation of the former Minister V. Srinivas Prasad, the Chief Minister was ambivalent and refused to speculate. He, however, said a decision would be taken after consulting all leaders of the party in the region and the same would be conveyed to the party high command.
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Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister was closeted with party workers and leaders from the region and held parleys with them.