All-party meet: No agreement on Mahadayi issue

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lead all party meeting regarding the Mahadayi water sharing dispute between Goa and Karnataka was held on Saturday. The meeting ended in a stand-off as both the opposition party indulged in accusation in spite of the Chief Minister saying that he will write to the Prime Minster Narendra Modi to resolve the issue.

The BJP wanted congress leaders to talk to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to settle the issue harmoniously, where as JD(S) and Congress leaders wanted to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi to settle the dispute.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had called for a state wide bandh on Thursday to put pressure on thye central government to resolve the Mahadayi dispute. He also said that he would write to the Prime Minister once again seeking his time to meet the all-party leaders from Karnataka and Goa.

The Chief Minister also said he was ready to attend a meeting convened by his Goa counterpart to discuss the issue.

Jagadish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa, leaders of the BJP in Legislative Assembly and Council respectively, and Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi (BJP) indulged in an argument with JD(S) MLA N.H. Konaraddy when the latter said that the Prime Minister should convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra for resolving the issue expeditiously.

The BJP leaders stood on the decision saying not to put any pressure on the Prime Minister to resolve the matter and said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should make efforts to convince the Congress leaders of Goa to come to a negotiation on sharing the Mahadayi water.