Mahadayi issue rocks Goa Assembly; six Oppn MLAs escorted out by marshals

The first day of the ongoing winter session of the state Assembly started on a stormy note over the Kalasa-Banduri project along the Mahadayi river in Karnataka on Monday, after six Oppositionlegislators were escorted out of the Assembly premises by marshals, after Speaker of the state Assembly Ramesh Tawadkar said that their protests in the House was disrupting Governor PS Sreedharan Reddy's inaugural address.

The six legislators from the Oppositionwhich includes former Chief Minister and Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai, AAP MLAs Venzy Viegas and Cruz Silva and two Congress MLAs Carlos Alvares Ferreira and Altone D'Costa were demanding that the House discuss the government's failure to protect Goa's interest in the ongoing Mahadayi interstate dispute with Karnataka.

Also Read | Opposition parties playing politics over Mahadayi river issue, claims Goa CM

The MLAs had worn black clothes and held up placards which said 'Save Mahadayi' and walked into the well of the House demanding that the Governor should speak on the Mahadayi issue.

Speaking to reporters outside the House the Opposition MLAs said that their ouster from the Assembly was unwarranted. "Aren`t the 33 MLAs in power using Mahadayi water? They should resign if they can`t resolve the Mahadayi issue. This government is not interested in resolving issues pertaining to the people's welfare. Switching off mike (in the Assembly) of Leader of Oppositionshows that this is dictatorship. The Oppositionwill fight this battle unitedly," Congress legislature party leader Yuri Alemao said.

Sardesai also said that the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had sold the river water to Karnataka just to "protect his chair". In his address to the state on Sunday, Sawant had claimed that the Opposition's attempts to raise the Mahadayi issue and its criticism of the government's efforts to address Goa's concerns was not in the best taste. He had also said that the state government had appealed in the Supreme Court against the nod given to the Kalasa-Banduri project by the Central Water Commission. Last week, Sawant also led an all-party delegation to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah, urging the latter to reverse the nod given to the Southern State's project.