BHUBANESWAR: After the landslide victory of Congress in Chhattisgarh in the recently concluded Assembly polls, the Odisha unit of the party is hoping to settle the ongoing Mahanadi river water dispute with the neighbouring State.
President of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik on Tuesday said his party will be able the resolve the issue by holding discussions with the Chhattisgarh Government. The dispute between the two States over the river water is now being adjudicated by Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal.
The tribunal was constituted following orders of the Supreme Court on January 23, 2018 in a suit filed by the Odisha Government. The State Government had sought to refer the dispute to a tribunal for adjudication under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
Briefing media persons here after attending the oath-taking ceremony of the new Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in Raipur, the OPCC president said he had an informal discussion on the Mahanadi issue with the former who has shown positive response.
Alleging that the BJD and the BJP have created unnecessary confusion over the Mahanadi issue, Patnaik said his party will have another round of meeting with the Chhattisgarh Government soon. “The meeting with Chhattisgarh CM and other Ministers was purely a courtesy call. However, they also feel that the Mahanadi issue could have been dealt with in a better manner,” he said.
Asked about the prospects of his party in Odisha in the ensuing elections, Patnaik said the outcome of the Assembly polls in the neighbouring State will be repeated in Odisha. To a question on the Assembly poll campaign in Odisha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patnaik said the Congress will be benefited from his campaign. “Since the BJP has lost 70 per cent seats in the recent Assembly elections in five States where the Prime Minister had campaigned, it will be better if he campaigns for his party in Odisha,” he said.