Mahadayi River row: Congress, BJP on collision course

Bengaluru: The state government has decided to  file a review petition before the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal challenging its order of July 27, rejecting  Karnataka plea’s for release of 7 tmc water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha via the Kalasa- Banduri nala.

Water Resources Minister,  M.B. Patil and  Advocate General, M.R.Naik met senior Supreme Court counsel, Fali S. Nariman in  Delhi to discuss the filing of the review petition, according to sources.

While the government is expected to come armed with this decision to Sunday’s all- party meeting on the issue, BJP state president, B.S.Yeddyurappa  met his party MPs at his home in Delhi  Thursday night to discuss the Mahadayi dispute and decide on the stand they should take at the all party meeting convened in Bengaluru on August 7.

The MPs reportedly took objection to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s decision to once again seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the dispute, arguing  that Mr Modi could not interfere when the  matter was pending before the tribunal.

They instead suggested that the Congress should convince its leaders in Goa and Maharashtra to release the water to Karnataka and offered to put similar pressure on BJP leaders in both states.

The leaders, who included Ananth Kumar, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Ramesh Jigajinagi, and Prahlad Joshi,  also suggested that the Chief Minister should file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the tribunal’s recent interim order.

While the government and the opposition parties have been doing their homework, the state’s farmers are keenly awaiting the outcome of the talks, hoping it will help resolve the long pending dispute.