B'luru bandh not in interest of state, says K'taka CM Siddaramaiah

MYSURU: It's most unfortunate that BJP and JD(S) are politicising the Cauvery issue, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here on Tuesday, adding that the protest is neither in the interest of the state nor the people.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that calling for bandh is allowed in a democracy. But, the court had directed against protests or meetings. "When we exercise our fundamental rights, the rights of others should also be kept in mind. The court had given an order that people should not be troubled,” he said.

Against that backdrop, the government had clamped the prohibitory orders under the IPC Section 144, he added.

Asked about BJP’s protest by wearing only shorts in Mandya district, CM Siddaramaiah said, "The BJP activists were called as “Chaddis” (mocking the RSS outfit of khaki shorts) by us. Let them carry out the protest. They should not indulge in politics. The issue should not be politicised for political gains. This is not in the interest of the state."

Instead of staging a protest with shorts, the BJP leaders should be told that they have 25 MPs and should pressure the BJP government and PM Modi, he stated.

Reacting to the charge that the Congress government is acting as a B-team of the DMK government, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated that the DMK government is ruling Tamil Nadu state. If the allegation is made on these lines, what should the alliance between the BJP and AIADMK, earlier, be described as?

The statements should not be issued for the sake of politics. Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda had written a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Cauvery dispute. "It is a welcome step. But, his statement alleging failure of the state government is politics. The state government has always protected the interests of the people and land," he said.

"The power is not important to us. For us the interest of people is more important. We believe in this," he stated.

On the Karnataka bandh call given on Friday, CM Siddaramaiah stated that the Supreme Court had given the directive not to stage bandh or protest. "We will not obstruct the protest," he said.

"So far, there is no distress formula. We have been praying for the distress formula before the Supreme Court and tribunals. When rains fail, the distress will set in both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. During those years, the distress should be shared. While sharing the distress, there must be a formula, he maintained. Another solution is, if there is a Mekedatu reservoir, which will have a capacity of 67 tmc of water, the water stored here, could be given to Tamil Nadu in distress situations like this. It tends to be in both the states. Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will be benefitted from this," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah explained.

Regarding the drought situation in the state, the Minister for Revenue Krishna Byregowda will be sent to New Delhi. He will meet the Union Home Minister, Union Agriculture Minister.

When he meets them, more details will be known, CM Siddaramaiah stated.

CM Siddaramaiah stated that there is no response to the letters written by him to PM Modi on sending a central team to assess the situation here.

"We have to see whether the new found friendship between BJP and former PM Deve Gowda is going to help," he taunted. 177.25 tmc of water has to be released in a normal year. For distress periods there is no formula. During distress period, out of the court settlement will be good," he opined.