Former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda on Saturday vowed to strive for Karnataka’s rights over its waters till he is alive.
Addressing a public meeting at Srirangapatna after a programme to collect water from KRS in pitchers as part of Janata Jaladhare, Mr. Gowda recalled his efforts for various irrigation projects in Karnataka, but regretted the lack of support or cooperation from national parties like Congress or BJP.
He also cited the hurdles that were posed by political leaders of neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu and Goa to his efforts to implement irrigation as well as drinking water projects for the benefit of people of Karnataka.
Mr. Gowda said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre had four Ministers from Karnataka at one point while the BJP had eighteen Lok Sabha MPs. But, neither the Congress nor BJP extended cooperation to him, he lamented.
“I fought alone. I will continue to strive for Karnataka’s rightful share of waters till I am alive,” said Mr. Gowda, who pointed out that he will turn 90 next month.
He said the Janata Jaladhare progamme was conceived by former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy after holding discussions with MLAs and MLCs of the party.
The Janata Jaladhare programme, which features 15 Ganga Raths carrying water from different water sources in pitchers and traversing through 180 different assembly constituencies across the State, will culminate with a public meeting in Bengaluru on May 8, where resolutions will be adopted.
“I will abide by whatever decision is taken by the party. If they plan a dharna, I will sit in a dharna. But, I want support from you people,” he said.
The JD(S) has already announced that it will come up with a blue-print for implementation of all the pending irrigation and drinking water projects in Karnataka in a time-bound manner if elected to power.
Earlier, Melukote MLA C.S. Puttaraju and Srirangapatna MLA Ravindra Srikantaiah also spoke. Former MLC T.A. Sharavana and other leaders of the JD(S) were also present on the occasion.
