BJP govt 'leaning' towards K'taka over Cauvery issue to capture power: Cong

Tiruchirappalli: With the Cauvery issue continuing to hold political centre-stage, former Union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday sought to know if the BJP-led Centre was ‘tilting’ towards Karnataka to capture power in that state.

He said if the Central government, "which is required to be neutral", was "tilting" towards Karnataka, it showed its hankering and "hope" for power in the neighbouring state.

"They (BJP) believe that they will be able to capture power in Karnataka in the next election (2018 Assembly polls)," he said at a gathering of party workers and supporters who were on a fast, protesting against the Centre's stand on formation of Cauvery Management Board.

He said though it was usual for one state to accuse another "the question is if the Centre is carrying out its responsibility or not. The Centre is skirting its responsibility."

The former Union minister said that by doing so, the BJP-led government was trying to get "political mileage".

Attacking the Tamil Nadu BJP, he said it would not be able to capture power in the state.

Besides Chidambaram, other Congress leaders present were former Union minister Dhanushkodi Adithan, former TNCC presidents K V Thangkabalu, Kumari Ananthan and Congress leaders 'Karate' Thyagarajan, former party MPs and MLAs.

TNCC president S Tirunavukarasar, who spoke on the occasion, said the Centre should act effectively on the Cauvery water dispute and form Cauvery Water Management Board.

Steps should be taken to provide relief to farmers affected by lack of water for their crops, he said.