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Krishna to continue padayatra

Ignoring demands to call off his padayatra on the Cauvery issue, Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna on Tuesday night decided to continue with his march to the Cauvery basin districts of Mandya and Mysore.

The two districts have been marred by a month-long farmers' agitation, which has disrupted normal life, and rail and road traffic between Bangalore and Mysore.

The farmers are protesting against the decision of the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority ordering release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu.

Krishna hopes to calm tempers with his padayatra.

However, agitating farmers might have other ideas with Mandya Farmers' Protection Committee president G Made Gowda telling rediff.com that they would not allow the padayatra to enter Mandya district on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Gowda had met Krishna and urged him to end his peace march fearing trouble and violence in Mandya district as agitated farmers were still angry with the state government for having released Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu in the initial days of the row.

Gowda also expressed fears that the march would divide people along political lines as it had not been undertaken after consultations with other parties, who might undertake similar initiatives on their own. He said farmers would call off their agitation if Krishna withdrew his programme.

"The need of the hour is unity among the people, political parties, farmers' organisations and the government, to protect the interests of the state on the Cauvery issue," Gowda told the chief minister.

Krishna promised to discuss the issue with his cabinet colleagues on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, he resumed his march from Bidadi, 35km from Bangalore, and reached Ramanagaram by evening covering 16 km.

Soon after that, Krishna consulted his senior ministerial colleagues who favoured continuation of the padayatra, sources said.

State opposition parties had slammed the chief minister for his unilateral decision to embark on the padayatra after having consulted them at every step ever since the crisis erupted. They accuse him of trying to gain political mileage from the issue.

To counter Krishna's initiative, former prime minister and Janatal Dal (Secular) leader H D Deve Gowda announced his own padayatra from Bhagamandala near Madikeri in Kodagu district, where the Cauvery originates, starting from Thursday.

Accusing the chief minister of politicising the issue after failing to defend the state's interests in the Supreme Court, Gowda said that Krishna's padayatra would help neither his government nor serve the interests of farmers.

"My party will launch an awareness programme in every assembly constituency in the state to enlighten the people on the Cauvery issue," Gowda said.

BJP state unit president Basavaraj Patil Sedam had also urged Krishna to call off the padayatra claiming it had failed to get the support of the people, especially farmers.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

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