Chennai: DMK leader MK Stalin on Tuesday congratulated BJP`s Chief Ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa after his party emerged as the single largest in the Karnataka Assembly election. Stalin also asked the new government in Karnataka to release the Cauvery water due to Tamil Nadu without defying the Supreme Court verdict on the river row. He also expressed hope that the new government in Karnataka would ensure cordial ties with Tamil Nadu.
In a Facebook post and a tweet, the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly also urged the new dispensation in Karnataka to release soon his state's share of water from the Cauvery river. "I believe the BJP, which is going to take charge, will not violate Tamil Nadu's rights on Cauvery as per the Supreme Court order and strive for cordial ties with the neighbouring state," he said.
The AIADMK, too, greeted the BJP for his good show in Karnataka. "Chief Minister K Palaniswami greeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BJP's win in the Karnataka Assembly elections," an official release in Chennai said. He sent a letter to Modi in this regard, it added.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are locked in a decades-old dispute over sharing Cauvery waters. Karnataka had on May 3 said it was not in a position to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu even as the Supreme Court sought to know the quantum of water that can be spared.
The Centre had on Monday filed a draft Cauvery management scheme before the Supreme Court, in line with its directive. The apex court on February 16 asked the Centre to formulate the scheme to ensure compliance of its judgement on the Cauvery dispute.
The court had modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award of 2007 by raising the 270 tmcft share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu's quantum while compensating it by allowing extraction of 10 tmcft groundwater from the river basin.
