Mahadayi row: BJP hits out at Siddu

With the Mahadayi river water dispute turning into a major row, the BJP on Thursday accused Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of suffering from “selective memory loss”, and placed the blame squarely on the Congress for the non-resolution of the issue.

Addressing a press conference here, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar urged the State Congress leaders to speak with their party leaders in Goa and Maharashtra immediately to build a consensus on resolving the dispute.

The prime minister is ready to resolve the issue by convening a meeting of the chief ministers of the three states concerned - Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, unlike the Congress which took “no initiative” when it was in power, they said.

The BJP fielded two leaders to defend the Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Siddaramaiah criticised him saying he was not convening a meeting of the chief ministers of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra to resolve the issue.

Both the ministers reminded the chief minister about Congress president Sonia Gandhi opposing the diversion of the Mahadayi river to Karnataka.

“It seems Siddaramaiah is suffering from selective memory loss. His stand on the Mahadayi river is the latest. He blamed PM Modi for not resolving the issue with Goa. I would like to remind him of what Sonia Gandhi said on 30th May, 2007. Sonia Gandhi had then said the Congress party will not allow the diversion of the Mahadayi river water to be used by Karnataka,” Naidu said, days after Siddaramaiah led an all-party delegation to the prime minister seeking an out-of-tribunal settlement of the dispute.

Naidu claimed the Congress chief had said her party was “committed to not allowing the river water diversion”.

“The public should know this fact. Siddaramaiah knows what his leader said then. But he pretends otherwise. Seeking the PM’s help to resolve the Mahadayi issue is one thing. But blaming the PM forgetting what Sonia Gandhi said in public is unfair and playing politics. Public figures need good memory,” he said.