Some political careers may sink, while a few may manage to float against the strong waves of the Cauvery water sharing crisis with Tamil Nadu. Opposition Congress leader in the Assembly Siddarmaiah recently got a taste of the public anger on the issue when he was hackled by farmers protesting release of water from Krishna Raja Sagar dam in Mandya, forcing him and his supporters to leave. The protestors even waved slippers and threw placards at the stage while Congress leaders, legislators and their supporters remained mute spectators.
The Cauvery issue has taken a political twist with ruling and opposition parties indulging in blame game. Congress that earlier supported the government was first to fire a political salvo at Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar. Siddaramaiah charged Shettar of failing to protect the state’s interest and demanded his resignation. Siddaramaiah, who hails from Mysore, a district that depends on Cauvery for its drinking water and irrigation needs accused the state government of “not exploring and exhausting all legal options.’’
The Congress is also critical of the chief minister for walking out of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The CRA on September 19 directed the state to release water to Tamil Nadu. All along its tirade against the BJP, Congress leaders kept on defending the Centre, which had directed release of water. The Congress is complaining that “The government failed to properly present the facts before the CRA and the Supreme Court resulting in adverse impact.”
The BJP, which is caught between the Supreme Court direction and farmers protests is accusing the Prime Minister of politicking the inter-state dispute. BJP ministers accused four Union Ministers from Karnataka—S M Krishna, M Veerappa Moily, Mallikarjuna Kharge and K H Muniyappa—of failing to impress upon the Centre about the acute drought situation in the state.
Janata Dal (S) has also jumped into the political hue and cry. Four of its MLAs and a MP from Mandya district submitted their resignations, but that did not make much of an impression among the protesters, who manhandled JD (S) MP N Chaluvarayaswamy from Mandya, just two days after he had tendered his resignation.
According to political analysts, Cauvery row will not be an issue during the next Assembly elections as the issue is confined to a few districts in South Karnataka and the solution to this decades-long problem lies with the judiciary.