PM refuses to meet Shettar

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday refused to give an appointment to Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to discuss the Cauvery water dispute.

Though the Chief Minister’s Office sought prime minister’s appointment to present State’s grievances before him, it was turned down by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Though the PMO did not give any reason, sources said that the prime minister generally does not entertain any particular chief minister on the vexed issue as the matter is in the Supreme Court.

As Manmohan Singh is heading the Cauvery River Authority of which all Cauvery river basin states are members, meeting any one chief minister would attract criticism from other states, PMO sources said.