 "Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. (Photo: ANI Twitter)")
Former prime minister HD Deve Gowda began an indefinite hunger strike on Saturday in Bengaluru in protest against the latest order of the Supreme Court with regard to the sharing of Cauvery river water between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Gowda said Karnataka is not a habitual offender and its people have been suffering because of this impasse for the last 130 years.
"The issue started in 1893. If there is no rain, how can we release water monthly, weekly? Let the people of this country judge whether we are habitual offenders, or whether Tamil Nadu is intimidating. We made a humble request to send the same monitoring committee to visit Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. These are all the issues which need debate in Parliament," he added.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened an all-party meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday to discuss the future course of action.
The Union Water Resources Ministry has asked the four Cauvery basin states to nominate their representatives to be appointed to the Cauvery Water Management Board as directed by the Supreme Court.
The apex court has directed the Centre to set up the board by October 4.
It ordered all the stakeholders Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry to give names by 4 PM today of the representatives to be on the Board which will be chaired by Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.
Water Resources Secretary Shashi Shekhar said that letters have been issued to the four states seeking their nominations.
