From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Sep 25: Trying to downplay the issue of his communication to senior Congress leader and Davangere MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa, who has been making a determined bid to grab the State Congress President’s post on the strength of his Lingayat community’s backing, KPCC Chief Dr G Parameshwar sought to describe it as ''only a letter and not a show-cause notice.”

Dr Parameshwar, who addressed a press conference, clarified that such letters had been sent to as many as 22 office-bearers and not just to the long-time KPCC treasurer.

The KPCC president said it was a matter of fact that Shivashankarappa had attended merely two out of the 14 meetings held. ''The letter was sent merely to remind the senior party leader of the responsibilities entrusted to him,” Dr Parameshwar explained.

He rejected the reports that he had issued a show-cause notice to the party’s Treasurer Shamanur Shivashankarappa for his failure to attend the office-bearers meeting called last month and maintained that “it is only a letter“.

“Shivashankarappa is like my elder brother. It is not correct to view the letter I wrote to him as a notice,” Dr Parameshwar said in the wake of a controversy that broke out over his last month’s communication to the senior leader from the Lingayat community.

Dr Parameshwar said he had written to 22 office-bearers who did not attend the meetings asking them not to skip the next meeting

''As party president, it is my duty to remind all office-bearers to attend the KPCC meetings in view of the fact that assembly elections are fast approaching and we need to get prepared and finalise our strategies,” he said.

''Convene Special Session on Cauvery"
 
The KPCC President demanded that the Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar should immediately convene a special state legislature session to debate the Cauvery river water issue so that the people know the real situation.

''Let the people judge the failure of the State Government in handling the case before the Supreme Court," he contended.

He said the State Counsel before the apex court had agreed to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu and perhaps on this basis, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chairing the Cauvery River Authority asked Karnataka to 9,000 cusecs to the neighbouring State.

Reiterating the State Congress stand that no water should be released as the farmers in the Cauvery basin were suffering shortage of water for drinking water and for their own crops, he said the views of the Cauvery Area Catchment Area and Cauvery Neeravari Nigam on the issue were not known.

Mettur dam had 45 tmc ft of water and Tamil Nadu could use it, he said.