Cauvery: Not proper to seek PM's intervention, says Union minister

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that it was not proper to seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the Cauvery issue as the matter was being adjudicated by the courts.

Speaking to reporters here, Nirmala, a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, said the BJP’s position had been made clear by state president B S Yeddyurappa that the matter is in the court and it is under adjudication.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been repeatedly seeking the intervention of Modi in resolving the Cauvery River water sharing dispute with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

On Home Minister G Parameshwara’s statement on the possible involvement of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in stoking violence over the Cauvery issue in Bengaluru, Sitharaman said state government was playing a political game.

‘Govt bungled Cauvery row’

At another event, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar said the state would not have faced the present Cauvery water sharing crisis with Tamil Nadu if the state government had done its “homework” properly.

Speaking to reporters, Kumar said the present government indulging in “politics” on issues such as Cauvery waters had severely hurt the interests of the state. Instead, the government should have done its homework properly and convinced the Supreme Court of the severe distress situation in the Cauvery basin, he said.