NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s surprise trip to New Delhi on Friday sparked the buzz that the ruling BJP was close to firming up the outline of the much-anticipated cabinet expansion or reshuffle. Bommai was last in Delhi on May 20. He called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and later tweeted, “Had a courtesy meeting with the Finance Minister @nsitharaman Ji in Delhi. Various issues of mutual interest were discussed.”
In another important meeting, Bommai met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, apart from participating in the GST Council meeting. The meeting was in connection with the Mekedatu project and Tamil Nadu’s objection to the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA).
Responding to a question by journalists, Bommai said Tamil Nadu has filed a miscellaneous application before the Supreme Court, and once notice is served to the state, the government will respond to it. “It (Mekedatu) is already on the (CWMA meeting) agenda, I will put pressure that it should be taken up and a final decision taken, regarding the project,” he added.
The Tamil Nadu government last week moved the Supreme Court with an aim to seek direction to the CWMA, restraining it from holding any discussion on the project at its meeting. Bommai termed Tamil Nadu’s move a “political stunt”, and said it was against the “spirit of federalism”.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recently wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, requesting him to instruct the Jal Shakti ministry to advise the CWMA’s chairman to desist from taking up any discussion on the Mekedatu project, till the issues are heard and decided by the Supreme Court.The Tamil Nadu government has already moved the Supreme Court, seeking direction to the CWMA not to hold any discussion on the issue at its meeting.
Mekedatu is a drinking water and power project proposed by Karnataka, for which a balancing reservoir has to be constructed near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district. But Tamil Nadu has been opposing the project, apprehensive that the project will affect the state. The project, estimated to cost around Rs 9,000 crore, will ensure drinking water to Bengaluru and areas around, besides generation of 400MW power.
PROJECT WILL BE DISCUSSED AT CWMA MEET: CHAIRMAN
THANJAVUR: Amid protest against the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) taking up the Mekedatu issue for discussion, S K Haldar, chairman of the Authority, reiterated that the issue is on the agenda and would be taken up for discussion in the forthcoming meeting. He was talking to reporters at Kallanai in Thanjavur on Friday, where he inspected the regulators. When asked whether the CWMA has powers to discuss the Mekedatu issue, Haldar said, “It has all powers and can discuss anything and everything related to the basin.”