Cauvery water row: Nagaraj, pro-Kannada activist accuses Siddaramaiah of inaction, warns of strike

Vatal Nagaraj, a former Chamarajnagar MLA and pro-Kanada activist, attacked both the Karnataka Government and the neighboring Tamil Nadu Government harshly on Thursday over the Cauvery water issue. Siddaramaiah, the chief minister of Karnataka, was accused of being inactive by Nagaraj, who claimed that no decisions were made during the meeting on Wednesday and threatened to organize a state-wide protest if the government did not take firm action.

“Karnataka Government held an all-party meeting yesterday, and it is clear that during the meeting the leaders decided to release the water. There is no water in our dams like KRS, Harangi, and others,” he said, adding, “There is not enough water in Bengaluru; we need more water for 1.5 crore people. That’s why we are protesting against the Tamil Nadu government, which is intentionally doing this by demanding water from Karnataka.”

This comes after the Tamil Nadu government demanded a larger share of the Cauvery water while Karnataka is experiencing a severe water crisis, prompting pro-Kannada activist and Chaluvali Vatal party leader Nagaraj to stage a protest on Wednesday. Nagaraj informed the Karnataka government that the state would go on strike and that the amount of water available was only about 40 TMC. The Karnataka government must maintain its resolve or we will declare a bandh in the state. He claimed that the absence of the BJP and JDS leaders from some party meetings reveals how they feel about the Cauvery.