Cauvery row: ‘BJP-JDS doing politics, won’t disrupt protest’, says K’taka CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) of ‘playing politics’ on the Cauvery issue.

“In a democracy, one can hold protests. We are not going to disrupt the protest. BJP-JD(S) are playing politics on this issue. There is a hearing before the Supreme Court tomorrow regarding the Cauvery issue. Our lawyers will present a competent argument,”

Siddaramaiah said while speaking to reporters in Vidhan Sabha.

On Opposition demanding his resignation over the issue, CM Siddaramaiah said, “When we called an all-party meeting on Cauvery river water sharing issue, has anyone said that I should resign from the post of CM? No one said that I should resign from the post of CM in the all party meeting.”

Responding to the Bengaluru Bandh call by farmers and pro-Kannada organisations protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said that it will be difficult to release water in the current situation but the state is bound to follow the Supreme Court’s directions.

“It will be difficult to release (Cauvery) water in the current situation, but we have to follow the direction of the Supreme Court as well. We have to respect the court. We have to protect the interests of our state no matter what. This is our duty,” DK Shivakumar said.

Meanwhile, a meeting of pro-Kannada organizations was held in Bengaluru ahead of the ‘Bengaluru Bandh’ called by various farmers’ and pro-Kannada organisations on September 26 to protest against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

“A decision has been taken for a complete Karnataka bandh on September 29. More than 1,000 organizations across the state have supported our bandh. Pro-Kannada organizations including Karave Sivaramegowda and Praveen Shetty also have support,” Pro-Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagarah said after the meeting.

State Sugarcane Growers Association is one of the main organisations that first called the bandh.

Farmers across Karnataka have been protesting since the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) ordered the state to release 5000 cusecs of water to its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, for 15 days, effective from September 13.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra on Thursday while refusing to interfere in the Cauvery water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu said both CWMA and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) are regularly meeting and monitoring the water requirements every 15 days.

The court declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.

Tamil Nadu had sought fresh directions for the release of Cauvery River water from Karnataka, claiming that the neighbouring State had changed its stand, and had released a reduced quantum of water as against what was agreed upon earlier.

Speaking to reporters today Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan called on Karnataka to respect the court order.

“As per the Supreme court order to release water from Cauvery, it’s opened and Water is coming to Tamil Nadu now. It’s Government of Tamil Nadu’s duty to maintain the situation. It’s the political ethics whether to obey the order of supreme court or not. We hope with the released Cauvery water we can save the Kuruvai Irrigation” said Murugan.