Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 3: State water resources minister, M B Patil,finally confessed on Tuesday February 2 that the letter written to the state government by union water resources minister, Uma Bharti, had been kept a secret by the state government.

"The state government had written to the union minister, Uma Bharti, on October 24, 2015, seeking the intervention of the union government in settling Kalasa Banduri - Mahayi river water dispute between states. She had sent reply on December 23, 2015," he stated. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Patil justified the action of the state, saying that it was done to protect interests of the state and apprehending that making it public then might hamper proposed discussions with Goa government.

Chief minister, Siddaramaiah, had written a letter to Goa chief minister on the subject on December 16. The reply of the Goa government dated January 19 was received by the office of the chief minister on January 27. "If we had made the letter of Uma Bharti public before that, the Goan government would have opted to toe the line of the central government. Therefore, the government preferred to wait for the response of the Goa government," the minister explained.

Patil added that Uma Bharti had also written letter to MP, C M Udasi, on the same lines as that of the letter addressed to the state. He accused BJP members, who are blaming the government of concealing the central government's letter, also to explain to people why they did so. He charged BJP leaders of coveringvup their own mistakes and placing blame on the chief minister.