Bengaluru, Mar 11 (IANS): Senior BJP leader and Karnataka Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka on Monday slammed the Congress government for releasing water to Tamil Nadu at a time when state capital Bengaluru is facing crisis.
Speaking to the media here, Ashoka demanded the Congress government to stop releasing water to Tamil Nadu immediately and respond to the woes of people. “Mr. DyCM D.K. Shivakumar, you patted your own back by claiming that your government delivered on its promises. You stand exposed in matters of releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The Congress government also stands exposed,” he said.
Ashoka asked leaders of the Congress government to quit if they did not have the capacity to provide drinking water to the people of the state. "If you have any capacity, provide drinking water to people. The water is ours, but the right over the water rests with Tamil Nadu during the Congress government.
“If you do not have the capacity to provide drought relief to the people, you (Congress government) step down. You are in power, BJP is not ruling Karnataka. When BJP was ruling the state, the government did not wait for the Centre to provide compensation to people during floods and drought time. We have released money from the state government.
“The problem is you don’t have money. Yours is a pauper government. You don’t even have money for providing drinking water,” he slammed.
The leader of Opposition also said that the protest at the Freedom Park has been postponed in the backdrop of preparations for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Karnataka. “The protest would be staged in a day or two,” he said.
The BJP has alleged that the Congress government was releasing water to Tamil Nadu from the KRS Dam in Mandya district from where drinking water is supplied to the state capital Bengaluru even as the IT city is facing a water crisis.
It is also alleged that more than 4,000 cusecs of water is being released to Tamil Nadu quietly. The farmers have expressed their outrage for the move of the state government. However, the government is yet to respond to these allegations.