Mandya (Karnataka): Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and workers staged protests on Monday in Karnataka's Mandya against the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and the Karnataka state government for the release of Cauvery Water to Tamil Nadu.
Former Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Karnataka BJP vice president and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra joined the protests at Mandya.
The protests by the BJP leaders and workers were organized at the BJP office as well as near the Deputy Commissioner's office of Mandya and the protestors were seen wearing 'shorts' during the protests.
The protests were organized against CWMA, CWRC, and the Karnataka state government, as CWMA had directed the Karnataka government to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu. Though the Karnataka government had moved to the Supreme Court (SC) against the directions of CWMA, the Karnataka government had to comply with the directions after the court refused to interfere with orders of CWMA.
Notably, the court also declined to entertain an application filed by the Tamil Nadu government to increase its current share of Cauvery water from 5,000 to 7,200 cusecs per day.
Amid the ongoing protests in the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had earlier in the day accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) of ‘playing politics’ on the Cauvery issue.
"In a democracy, there is an opportunity to protest. We are not going to disrupt the protest. But the BJP-JDS party is playing politics in this. There is a hearing before the Supreme Court tomorrow regarding the Cauvery issue," said Siddaramaiah.
Speaking on the opposition demanding his resignation over the issue, CM Siddaramaiah said, “When we called an all-party meeting on the Cauvery river water sharing issue, has anyone said that I should resign from the post of CM? No one said that I should resign from the post of CM in the all-party meeting.”
Both Karnataka and TN have been witness to protests after Karnataka hardened its stance on sharing Cauvery water citing severe drought in parts of the state.
Earlier during the day, The National South Indian River Interlinking Farmers Association under the leadership of Ayyakannu held a protest in TN's Trichy by holding parts of the human skeleton and demanded the sharing of Cauvery water.
Speaking on the protests Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan hoped that Karnataka would hold on to its promise to release water to Tamil Nadu as per the directions of the CWMA.
"I don't want to comment on what's happening in other states...as per Supreme court order to release water from Cauvery, the water is now coming to Tamil Nadu and now its the Government of Tamil Nadu's duty to maintain the situation. Obeying the order or not is the question of political ethics" he said.
"We hope that with the released Cauvery water from Karnataka, we can save the Kuruvai cultivation" he added.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru based pro-Kannada organizations have given a call for a ‘Bengaluru Bandh’ on 26 September. The call comes after Mandya city observed a total bandh on Saturday, protesting against the Supreme Court order.
—ANI