“Karnataka Government Misleading People On Cauvery Issue”: Union Minister

Hubballi:

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Saturday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of ‘misleading’ people over the Cauvery water-sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu by blaming the Centre.

Mr Joshi alleged that the state government did not apprise the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) of the prevailing situation in the dams in Karnataka.

According to him, the central government cannot intervene in the matter as the CWMA is a quasi-judicial body.

“The state government has been talking only about releasing the amount of water. It did not say that it is not in a position to release water. It did not argue about their (Tamil Nadu) water situation and not just ours,” Mr Joshi, who holds the coal and mines portfolio, told reporters here.

The Union Minister further said the Members of Parliament have cooperated with the state government’s initiatives to protect the interests of the state and will continue to do so in the future. 

Explaining the limited role the Centre has to play in the functioning of CWMA, he said, “CWMA is a quasi-judicial body and the union government cannot interfere in its functioning. The issue has to be resolved amicably.” 

Mr Joshi asked the Siddaramaiah-led government not to put people in trouble “for its mistakes”.

“People have understood your lone job of blaming. You had 90 TMC of water, of which 60 TMC drinking water was used for a particular crop in Tamil Nadu. They should have asked their counterpart saying ‘We are part of the same alliance (INDIA Bloc). Give us two months time’,” the Union minister said.

He wondered why Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was not calling a meeting of chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to resolve the issue.

“Why did Mallikarjun Kharge not call a meeting of Siddaramaiah and M K Stalin when he is the head of the INDIA bloc? They (Karnataka Congress leaders) are bowing to their (DMK leaders’) pressure. To hide it, they are trying to blame Narendra Modi,” he charged. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)