BJP MP Siroya urges Karnataka, TN CMs to meet, discuss Cauvery issue

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP in Rajya Sabha Lahar Singh Siroya on Wednesday urged the Chief Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to meet and steer the discussion on the ongoing Cauvery water-sharing dispute.

In a letter addressing Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the Prime Minister's Office, and Chief Secretaries of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, MP Siroya stated that it is best to view the issue as a humanitarian crisis to be addressed maturely by two state governments.

"We should at least break the old cycle of seeing the sharing of Cauvery River water as a regional conflict and a major dispute. This conflicting approach has been prevalent for decades. Instead, it is best to view it as a humanitarian crisis to be addressed maturely by two state governments. There should be no scope for politics and rhetoric in this matter," the BJP MP said in his letter.

He further stated, "I once again urge the two Chief Ministers to meet at the earliest and steer the discussion on this crisis created by Mother Nature in a different direction."

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are staging a protest near the Gandhi statue in Bengaluru against the Karnataka government's decision to release water to Tamil Nadu following the orders of Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC).

Yediyurappa is accompanied by Parliamentary Committee member DV Sadanand Gowda, former Deputy CM Ashwath Narayan and other party leaders in the protest.

Speaking to reporters amid the protest, Yediyurappa said, "Our CM Siddaramaiah and Shivkumar, they must know, that they should not behave like Tamil Nadu agents. They must realise the actual facts. In almost all our reservoirs water is not at all sufficient for even drinking purposes. PM can't interfere in this, the case is in SC. It's not possible for him to interfere."

Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) supremo and former PM HD Deve Gowda said that HD Kumaraswamy will be joining the BJP's protest.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the state government will challenge the CWRC order in the Supreme Court adding the state doesn't have enough water to release to Tamil Nadu.

"Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) ordered to release 3000 cusecs of water, I have already spoken to our advocates. They have suggested us to challenge this order in the Supreme Court. We'll challenge it in the Supreme Court. We don't have water to release to Tamil Nadu. We are challenging the orders of the CWRC", the CM told reporters in Bengaluru.

Earlier on Tuesday, the CWRC recommended Karnataka to ensure the release of 3000 cusecs of Cauvery water at Biligundlu starting from September 28 up to October 15, 2023.

The amount of water to be released was earlier 5000 cusecs. In its 87th meeting of CWRC held in New Delhi today, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu made their submissions before the committee.

The submission made by Karnataka stated that the shortfall in cumulative inflows to the state's four reservoirs up to September 25 was 53.04 per cent.