Palaniswami slams Karnataka govt on Mekedatu issue; questions DMK's 'silence'
Chennai (PTI): AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday attacked the ruling Congress in Karnataka for announcing its decision to go ahead with the Mekedatu reservoir and hit out at the DMK government's alleged silence over the issue.
The Karnataka government envisages constructing a balancing reservoir across river Cauvery at Mekedatu in that state to meet Bengaluru's drinking water needs, but Tamil Nadu has been opposing it saying the project would harm its interests.
Palaniswami, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly alleged that DMK, along with its ally Congress, has been working against Tamil Nadu's interests ever since it came to power in 2021.
He said he had already raised in the state Assembly, the previous AIADMK government filing a contempt plea in the Supreme Court against the chief of the Cauvery Water Management Authority for taking up the Mekedatu issue in the CWMA agenda in 2018.
That case was pending before the SC.
However, the Mekedatu issue again came up before a CWMA meeting earlier this month, but TN did not walkout in protest against it, he said in a statement.
In this background, the Karnataka government has announced going ahead with the project, while presenting its budget on Friday, the LoP said.
He recalled that the neighbouring had announced that a separate project division and two sub-divisions have already been set up to implement the ambitious project, besides initiating a survey to identify land that will be submerged under this project. Besides, counting of trees has also been taken up.
"This is against the Supreme Court verdict and amounts to contempt of court," he added.
"People really don't know what the DMK government is waiting for. (Former chief minister M) Karunanidhi did not extend the agreement on Cauvery and allowed dams across the river in Karnataka, thus betraying the people of Tamil Nadu," he said.
He charged Stalin with 'betraying' the people of the state on the current issue.
Cauvery serves as the source of drinking water in Tamil Nadu's 20 districts and if the Mekedatu project is allowed, they will be affected. The delta districts will turn into a 'desert,' he added.
The former CM said that whenever the BJP or Congress governments in Karnataka acted against Tamil Nadu on the Cauvery dispute, the "Amma government" of the AIADMK had resisted and prevented them politically and legally.
He demanded immediate withdrawal of the plans to implement the Mekedatu project.
He warned of a massive protest, involving people and farmers, by his party against the Congress government in Karnataka and the central and TN governments "that are mute witnesses" to the former's betrayal of Tamil Nadu if the project was not shelved immediately.
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BJP slams Cong over internal quota for SCs, alleges injustice done to several communities
Bengaluru (PTI): The BJP in Karnataka on Saturday attacked the Congress government over its decision on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, alleging injustice to several communities and questioning the intent behind the revised quota formula.
Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MP Govind Karjol criticised the government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing it of delay, dilution of quota, and lack of commitment to social justice.
The Cabinet on Friday cleared a revised internal reservation formula for Scheduled Castes within the overall 15 per cent quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment.
The Cabinet approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand groups" and "left-hand groups", and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
"The Congress government in Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has committed a historic betrayal and stabbed the Scheduled Castes in the back," Vijayendra said.
In a post on 'X', the Shikaripura MLA alleged that the government had delayed the distribution of reservation among Scheduled Castes for nearly two-and-a-half years despite a Supreme Court order, before classifying them into A, B and C categories in a Cabinet decision.
He said the previous BJP government had increased reservation from 15 per cent to 17 per cent, but the present dispensation had reduced allocations.
"The quota for Category 'A' has been reduced from 6 per cent to 5.25 per cent and for Category 'B' from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, thereby causing grave injustice," he said, adding that allocations meant for several communities had been merged into Category 'C' and reduced to 4.5 per cent.
"Instead of the justifiable 5.5 per cent, the quota has been reduced to 4.5 per cent- amounting to a betrayal of these communities as well," he said.
He further claimed that despite there being no stay order, the state government had filed an affidavit agreeing to reduce reservation from 17 per cent to 15 per cent.
"As a result, the Scheduled Caste reservation has been brought down from 17 per cent to 15 per cent," he said.
Alleging inaction on employment, Vijayendra said the government had wasted two-and-a-half years of valuable time in the name of internal reservation despite lakhs of vacancies, and termed the recent recruitment assurance as misleading.
He added that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar will pay a price for the alleged injustice.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, Karjol questioned the internal reservation mechanism adopted by the Cabinet.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said the Justice H N Nagamohan Das committee had recommended 17 per cent internal reservation and the government had reduced it to 15 per cent.
He questioned whether repeated assertions on social justice and equitable distribution were mere rhetoric, and accused the chief minister of misleading the public to retain power.
Terming the decision "arbitrary justice", Karjol said, "There were the Sadashivayya report, the Justice H N Nagamohan Das report, and even the Cabinet sub-committee report under former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. There was also a Supreme Court order. Ignoring all of these, the government has delivered arbitrary justice."
He maintained that the previous BJP government had increased reservation scientifically to 17 per cent based on a report by then Law Minister J C Madhuswamy, and alleged that, despite promises made in 2013 and after returning to power in 2023, Siddaramaiah had failed to implement internal reservation.
Accusing the chief minister of attempting to create divisions among SC sub-castes and pushing the issue into courts, Karjol urged him to stop this deception.
