MANGALURU: Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Tuesday said people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should rise above emotions and work for the betterment of both states on the Mekedatu project and Cauvery water sharing.
“100 percent, there is (water) problem in Karnataka and there is no dispute about it. Water is an issue in Bengaluru. But that is because of Congress misgovernance. Today, we need to rise above emotions and think about the welfare of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The Mekedatu dam project will take its course as per rules. There is Cauvery Water Management Authority which will decide after considering all aspects,” he said.
The Mekedatu project is a contentious issue between the two states, and the DMK manifesto for the Lok Sabha election said the party will not allow the project to happen.
The election for all the 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu was held in the first phase on April 19.
On BJP’s advertisement in newspapers asking whether the Kannadigas’ share of Cauvery water should be released to other states, he said sharing of water is decided based on the formula and taking into account the rain situation. He added that he will not speak like a parochial politician when it comes to the two states.
To another query on the issue, he said,”There are Central government and Supreme Court orders and the water management body constituted in 2008 which Modiji set it up properly in 2018. This order will be fair to all states and will not cause injustice to any state. There is no need to mix politics in this,” he said.
He alleged that the Congress government in Karnataka and DMK government in Tamil Nadu are trying to set a political narrative by falsely accusing the BJP-led Union government of meting out injustice to them in drought and flood relief, respectively. “But one has to find out what these states got when UPA and NDA were in power to know that NDA went by a formula-based approach and did not do injustice.”
The former IPS officer alleged that law and order has worsened after the Congress government came to power in the state and blamed it on Congress’ appeasement politics.
“That is why Neha Hiremath was murdered like this,” he commented. He also took objection to the statements of Home Minister G Parameshwar and other Congress leaders on the incident.