22 October,2016 08:18 AM IST | | Agencies
A delegation of opposition parties in Tamil Nadu yesterday met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention in the setting up of Cauvery Management Board, a demand Karnataka is opposed to
MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, CPI's D Raja and other leaders with President Pranab Mukherjee. Pic/PTI
New Delhi: A delegation of opposition parties in Tamil Nadu yesterday met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention in the setting up of Cauvery Management Board, a demand Karnataka is opposed to.
The leaders belonging to these parties later lashed out at the "defiant" attitude of Karnataka in complying with the apex court orders over release of waters from Cauvery and alleged they are making the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu into a "begging bowl."
A delegation of People's Welfare Front (PWF) leaders, headed by CPI national secretary and Rajya Sabha MP D Raja, submitted a memorandum to the President containing their demands.
"Cauvery does not belong to any particular state. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are riparian states and they have same rights over the river. We requested the President to safeguard the rights of Tamil Nadu and to speed up the
Constitution of Cauvery Management Board," Raja told reporters outside the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
MDMK leader Vaiko, who was part of the delegation, said that the alleged denial of water has resulted in a loss of Rs 8,000 crore to Tamil Nadu this year.
"Karnataka's denial of water, which was legitimately alloted to us, has resulted in a total loss of Rs 8,000 crore to the state this year. We fear that our rice bowl is becoming a begging bowl due to this," he said.
