It’s a testing time for Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who is facing river wars with riparian States one after the other. After a lull in the Cauvery issue, the State is all set to face-off with the other two riparian States Goa and Maharashtra over river Mahadayi or Mandovi. Both Maharashtra and Goa are ruled by the BJP and Siddaramaiah who is leading a Congress Government is facing lot of political heat over water sharing ahead of the Assembly polls in 2018.
As he is meeting the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Goa on October 21 in Mumbai on the invitation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he has asked the Opposition BJP not to politicise the Mahadayi river water sharing issue involving Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
He said in Bengaluru that the people of the State wanted a solution to the long-pending issue and not any confusion or political controversy among the parties within the States.
Siddaramaiah said ''We are keeping high hopes of a solution during the October 21 meeting of the riparian states to be held in Mumbai following the initiative taken by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.'' Mahadayi Tribunal had advised the three states to initiate talks to arrive at a solution as legal recourse may take a long time.
Siddaramaiah said the Opposition parties should realise that the October 21 event is not a meeting of Opposition leaders and BJP's demand of convincing Congress leaders in Maharashtra and Goa was unwanted and created unnecessary controversy. As the 2018 elections in the State is crucial both the Cauvery and Mahadayi river water issues have taken political turn with three major parties Congress, BJP and JD(S) trying to take maximum political mileage.
Siddaramaiah said Congress was not the only Opposition party in the two riparian States where there were also NCP, Shiv Sena and other parties. He said the BJP, instead of meeting Fadnavis who had initiated the meeting, should have met Goa Chief Minister Yashwant Parsekar which could have had a better impact, in view of Karnataka's interests.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders BS Yeddyurappa and Jagadish Shettar demanded that Siddaramaiah should first convince Opposition Congress leaders in Goa and Maharashtra, saying that they had opposed implementation of Kalasa-Banduri canal project to divert water from the tributaries of West-flowing Mahadayi River.
However it is learnt that the State BJP is already in touch with Goa Chief Minister Parsekar to convince him of the urgent need for Mahadayi water and solve the river water row to cater to the urgent drinking water needs of the Karnataka districts, ahead of the Chief Ministers meeting.
Meanwhile, Congress leader in lok Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene in the Mahadayi issue and expressed skepticism over the outcome of the coming 3 Chief Minister's meeting.
Speaking to media at Kalaburgi in north Karnataka he opined that the CM's meet may not bring the desired result and may end in a rhetoric. ''Intervention into delayed resolution of this dispute can bring desired results only if Modi intervenes,'' he said.
Meanwhile, the leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, said the State BJP leaders impressed upon Maharashtra chief minister the importance of solving the Mahadayi water sharing issue.