Tension prevailed for some time when activists of the Kabini Farmers Association gheraoed District Minister S A Ramadas, and entered into a verbal duel with him against the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The farmers who were returning after staging a protest against irrigation officials for the discharge of water, suddenly stormed into K R Circle and waylaid the minister’s car.
A few of the farmers lay in front of the car. They demanded the resignation of Ramdas and raised slogans against the government, accusing it of failing to protect the state’s interest. Enraged over the farmers’ accusations, Ramadas lost his cool and said that even the government had concern for the state and the farmers. However, he added that the government had no other way but to respect the Supreme Court’s directions.
‘People Won’t Tolerate Injustice’
The people of Karnataka would become rebellious and come out of the federal system if the Centre metes out injustice to the state in the Cauvery row, said former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.
After launching the official website of the JD (S) developed by the IT wing of the party here on Saturday, he charged that both the state and Union governments had failed to protect the interest of people in the Cauvery dispute. “The government at the Centre should know that Karnataka exists on the Indian map. The habit of using and dumping Karnataka has become a routine for the Union government,” he added. Kumaraswamy said the portal was an attempt to reach out to urban masses, especially to IT professionals. Darshan Deve Gowda, the key person behind the idea explained that the IT wing of the party had reached out to as many as 2,000 software engineers.