Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP on Saturday joined farmers and pro-Kannada organisations in protests against the ruling Congress government for releasing Cauvery waters from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu in what it termed against the interests of the Kannadigas. The Karnataka BJP led by former Chief Ministers Basavaraj Bommai and BS Yedyurappa held a sit-in at Mysore Bank Circle in Bengaluru against the Karnataka government's move to release Cauvery waters to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Former CM BS Yeddyurappa while speaking on the occasion said that the Congress leaders of the state “are behaving like agents of Tamil Nadu”. “We have to convince Supreme Court against releasing water (from Cauvery),” he said. Widespread protests broke out across Karnataka after the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Monday directed the Karnataka government to release 5000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days.
The SC refusing to interfere with the CWMA orders has only intensified the protests. Condemning the failure of the state government “on various fronts including the issue of Cauvery water”, Yedyurappa said that it was a “contempt for the anti-people, anti-farmer government”. “The Congress party has behaved like an agent of Tamil Nadu.
They released water before Tamil Nadu asking for it and put us in trouble. The experts should come and know the condition," he said. He asked for the dismissal of the Congress government in Karnataka over the issue. Former CM Basavaraja Bommai said that there is a “dark rule in Karnataka”. “The Congress government does not have the ability to provide proper water to the people, and the Congress government does not have the ability to provide proper electricity. Development has come to a complete standstill in the state,” Bommai said.
Besides Bommai and Yeddyurappa, DV Sadananda Gowda, MP PC Mohan, former Ministers Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan, Govinda Karajola, K. Gopalaiah, Legislative Council Member Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former Speaker Vishweshwar Hegade Kageri, former Vidhan Parishad member Ashwath Narayan, MLAs, Vidhan Parishad members, chairpersons of metropolitan districts, former city council members participated in the protest.
Police detained BJP leaders who tried to block the road. Former chief ministers B.S. Yeddyurappa, Basavaraja Bommai, former minister Govinda Karajola, Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan, Gopalaiah and other leaders were taken into custody by the police and taken away in a vehicle.
