Two Union Ministers from Bangalore, D V Sadananda Gowda and Ananth Kumar, on Saturday discredited reports suggesting that a note constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) had been circulated by the Centre.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event here, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda appealed to the people to not panic. “There are two Cabinet ministers from the State. If there had been a Cabinet note, we should have received it. No such note has been circulated,” he said.
Ananth Kumar said that on Saturday morning he had a telephonic conversation with Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti who assured him that there was no such proposal.
“Uma Bharti has assured us that no such board has been constituted. On June 9, after the President’s speech to the joint parliamentary session, all the Union ministers from Karnataka will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey our thoughts on the Cauvery issue,” Kumar said. The ministers were reacting to reports that the Union Water Resources ministry had drafted a Cabinet note on constituting the CMB, after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha met Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.
Both Gowda and Kumar said they were committed to safeguarding the interests of Karnataka. Gowda went a step ahead and said he was ready to join the delegation proposed by Siddaramaiah and meet Modi to discuss the Cauvery issue.
