(REOPENS MDS2)

Opposition JD-S members staged dharna in the post-lunch sitting, accusing the government of "betraying" farmers by not releasing water to crops in accordance with the Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) decision and demanded that crop compensation be paid to the affected. However, Basavaraj Bommai rejected the charge and also the demand for compensation. He asserted that ICC had told farmers not to opt for water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane, but some farmers ignored the advice. "Otherwise water has been released to crops as assured," he said. H C Balakrishna, Puttaraju and other JD-S members insisted that since Tamil Nadu is paying compensation to farmers, the state should also emulate it. The JD-S members later withdrew the dharna.