Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said he is ready to take an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Mahadayi river water issue, if necessary.
An out-of-court solution to the issue is possible only if the prime minister intervenes. He should hold a meeting with the chief ministers of all the three riparian states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. If not, all the three states will have to wait till the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal gives its verdict, Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
He charged Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar with indulging in political gimmick by writing a letter to BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on the issue. "Parrikar should have written either to his Karnataka counterpart or the tribunal on releasing water. It (writing to Yeddyurappa) was a political stunt...Yeddyurappa has betrayed people of north Karnataka," he added.
The chief minister also claimed that his party has never assured people that it will convince Goa Congress leaders on releasing Mahadayi water to Karnataka.
BJP leader Jagadish Shettar blamed Siddaramaiah for the issue remaining unresolved. "He (Siddaramaiah) should have grabbed the opportunity to find a favourable solution to the issue. Instead, he indulged in politics. The Congress leaders did not make any effort to convince their party leaders in Goa on the issue," the former chief minister charged.
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