Mysuru: Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has demanded the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ending the Cauvery row involving Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He maintained that the State had no choice but to follow Supreme Court order on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
Speaking to press persons at Mysore Airport in Mandakalli here this morning, the CM said that the dams in Cauvery basin were only half-full and as such the Government was finding it hard to release water to canals.
Claiming that he himself was a farmer, Siddharamaiah said he was not the one to hesitate even for a minute to release water to canals if there was enough storage in dams.
Stating that the first priority of Government was supply of drinking water, followed by agriculture and other purpose, the CM said the State Government was always committed to protect the interests of farmers.
Lingayat religion issue
Replying to the BJP’s allegation that the Congress was out to divide the society in the name of Veerashaiva-Lingayat separate religion, Siddharamaiah said it was the BJP which was dividing the society and not the Congress.
Pointing out that Veerashaiva Mahasabha had submitted a petition seeking a separate Veerashaiva Lingayat Dharma while Mate Mahadevi had sought Lingayat dharma, the CM said he had asked the two to come together for a meeting, where an amicable solution can be found.
Claiming that State BJP President B.S. Yeddyurappa as opposition leader had written a letter seeking a separate Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma, and which has also been confirmed by another senior BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa, Siddharamaiah accused the BJP of playing politics. Commenting on the 3-day Dr.B.R. Ambedkar international event held at Bengaluru recently, the CM said such an event was necessary, as communal forces were getting deep-rooted in the State.
Siddharamaiah said the event had spread the right message to the society, at a time when secularism was under severe threat.
Hindi in Metro
Referring to the use of Hindi in Bengaluru Metro stations, the CM said there was no need for Hindi in Metro Stations of Bengaluru. Pointing out Chennai Metro stations had only two-language signages, the CM questioned BMRCL’s three-language signage.
He said that he had written to the Centre on making Kannada mandatory at Metro Stations. Lashing out at the Centre for displaying a step-motherly attitude towards the State, Siddharamaiah said while the Centre instantly released Rs. 500 crore as relief to flood-hit-Gujarat, it was silent to repeated requests by Karnataka for release of funds to tackle drought.
NDRF Policy
Continuing his tirade at the Centre, the CM criticised the new National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Policy, in which new guidelines have been incorporated.
Asserting that the new NDRF policy was detrimental to the States, the CM said that as per the new NDRF guidelines, only 26 taluks of the State can be declared as drought-hit, while the fact was that 166 taluks were reeling under drought.
The Chief Minister, who arrived by a special flight from Bengaluru along with Social Welfare Minister H. Anjaneya, was received by DC D. Randeep, Police Commissioner Dr. A.S. Rao, DCPs Dr. H.T. Sekhar and Dr. Vikram V. Amathe, MUDA Chairman D. Dhruvakumar, Commissioner Dr. M. Mahesh, MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha, MLC R. Dharmasena, KEA Chairman B. Siddaraju and others.
The Chief Minister left for T. Katuru village in the taluk to take part in the first death anniversary rituals of his son Rakesh Siddharamaiah.
This post was published on July 29, 2017 6:58 pm