Karnataka's move after studying Mahadayi Tribunal award: CM
Bengaluru/New Delhi, Aug 14 : Karnataka would study the final award of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal, which on Tuesday recommended 13.42 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of the river water to the state before deciding on its next move, said an official statement here.
"We will respond to the final award of the Tribunal after detailed study of its recommendations to the Union government. An appropriate decision will be taken after studying the award in 12 volumes and consulting with the concerned," Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy said in a statement here.
The three-member Tribunal awarded 13.42 TMC of the river water to Karnataka as against its demand for 36.66 TMC, said an earlier statement.
"I have discussed the ruling with the state water resources department and legal experts," added the Chief Minister.
One of the counsels who represented Karnataka before the Tribunal, Mohan Kataraki, said the immediate water needs of the state's drought-prone districts Bagalkote, Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag, have been addressed by the award.
"While the immediate water requirement has been met by the Tribunal's award, we will take steps for any additional water requirement after going through the verdict," Kataraki told reporters in New Delhi.
Congress state unit President Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party is partially satisfied with the award.
"We are partially satisfied with the Tribunal's verdict as the award for Karnataka is less than the water we had demanded," Rao told reporters here.
Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President B.S. Yeddyurappa, however, hailed the award as "historic".
"We are happy with what has been awarded to the state and welcome the Tribunal's decision," Yeddyurappa said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
