MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday denied BJP charges that Karnataka is releasing water to Tamil Nadu. “The question of giving water to Tamil Nadu does not arise when there is no water for drinking purposes in Karnataka itself,” he added.
He told reporters at Heggawadi that there is no water in state reservoirs and termed BJP charges baseless. “We will not give water even if the Centre directs or Tamil Nadu requests us for water,” he asserted.
Siddaramaiah said the BJP government at the Centre issued a notification to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Monday for political gains ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Congress is against granting citizenship on religious grounds, he added.
The statement that BJP is looking for 400 seats in the Lok Sabha to change the Constitution was not made by any ordinary man, but by former Union minister Ananthkumar Hegde. BJP has made Hegde come out with this statement as it is the stand of that party. If not, BJP should have criticised Hegde’s statement, he pointed out.
Siddaramaiah denied that he and former chief minister BS Yediyurappa had come to an understanding to deny a BJP ticket to incumbent Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha. “It is the decision of BJP if he is replaced. I have not told Yaduveer (Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar -- the scion of erstwhile Mysuru royal family) to contest on a BJP ticket. Whoever is the candidate, we want to win the Mysuru seat,” he added.
Asked if his chief minister’s position would be shaky if Pratap Sinmha is given a ticket, he shot back, “He was an MP twice, why would my position be shaky?”