Mahadayi row; KPCC questions Parrikar's letter to Yeddyurappa

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee today strongly objected to the Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar writing to BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa expressing his intent to resolve the Mahadayi water sharing dispute through an amicable settlement.

Questioning the propriety behind Parrikar’s letter, KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao said Goa chief minister’s action is an insult to Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah as he was sidelined from the whole process. “I never thought the BJP will stoop so low. The case was going on for the last two years. The PM was aware of it but did not take any initiative,” Rao said.

When elections are round the corner, BJP leaders led by their party national president Amit Shah held meetings to resolve the matter and “then Goa chief minister writes not to his Karnataka counterpart but BJP state president Yeddyurappa,” he said.

The Congress leader said Parrikar should have written to Siddaramaiah saying Yeddyurappa has spoken to him in the presence of other BJP leaders and that he was ready to resolve the drinking water crisis in Karnataka by releasing water from the Mahadayi river.

Rao said, “Is it not pure politics if Yeddyurappa reads the letter in the BJP election rally? By playing the water politics, BJP is undermining the water crisis and demeaning the sufferings of people. It is also insulting our chief minister Siddaramaiah.”

He said Parrikar did not turn up whenever meetings were arranged to resolve the Kalasa Banduri water project.

During an election rally in Hubballi, Yeddyurappa read out Parrikar’s letter to him.

In the missive, Parrikar had said his government is willing to consider an amicable settlement with Karnataka on sharing inter-state Mahadayi river water to meet the drinking needs of drought prone areas in northern parts of the state.

Rao also took a dig at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his speech yesterday at Hubballi.

“Yogi Adityanath says Congress is Tipu Bhakt and they are Hanuman Bhakt. This is purely divisive politics,” he said.

“BJP got only 32 per cent votes (in Lok Sabha polls). So it means many other Hindus rejected them. Should it mean that those who did not vote for BJP are not Hindus? Such statement is an insult to a large majority of people,” Rao said.

The Congress leader said his party does not want to learn lessons of governance from Adityanath.