Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Saturday attacked the Congress over past water-sharing agreements with Bangladesh, alleging that decisions taken during the tenures of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi compromised the interests of Indian farmers and border states.
In a post on X, Dubey described the agreements as a “dark chapter” in the Congress party’s history and claimed that river waters were shared with Bangladesh at the expense of India’s own needs.
“On this very day, May 30, 1982, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had given renewed consent for the sharing of the Ganga River with a Bangladeshi delegation. In 1976, an agreement had been consented to by Indira ji, which was implemented in 1977 for only 5 years. Renewed agreements were then made by Indira ji with Bangladeshi President General Ershad in 1982, and later by Rajiv Gandhi ji in 1985. In 1982, for the first time, we also divided the Teesta River's water equally, half and half,” Dubey said.
He further alleged that farmers in several states were facing water scarcity while river waters were being shared with Bangladesh.
“Farmers in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh are committing suicide without water; silt has accumulated in the Ganga, but the water goes to Bangladesh? The Teesta River is the lifeline of Sikkim--we could generate electricity and irrigation, but the water goes to Bangladesh? The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of Assam and Bengal, but the water goes to Bangladesh?” he said.
Dubey also accused the Congress of prioritising vote-bank politics over national interests.
“For the sake of vote banks, bringing in Bangladeshi infiltrators and giving shelter to India's adversaries--in exchange, ‘Bangladesh Zindabad’ is Congress's guiding principle,” he said.
His remarks referred to water-sharing arrangements between India and Bangladesh concerning the Ganga and Teesta rivers. In October 1982, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then Bangladesh leader Lieutenant General HM Ershad signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the sharing of Ganga waters at Farakka after the 1977 agreement expired.
The 1982 understanding created an interim framework for equitable sharing of water at Farakka while both sides worked towards a long-term solution, with the Joint Rivers Commission tasked to conduct further technical studies.
On the Teesta river, discussions led to an ad hoc arrangement in 1983 under which India was allocated 39 per cent of the flow, Bangladesh 36 per cent, while 25 per cent remained unallocated pending further studies.
(With inputs from ANI)