The necessity of regional political parties to protect the interests of the States in a federal democratic set-up came to the fore in the recent Cauvery river water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda has said.
The regional parties in Tamil Nadu enjoy a strong clout in the Centre and this has proved advantageous for that State in the Cauvery row, the former Prime Minister told presspersons here on Monday.
He attributed the setback faced by Karnataka in the Cauvery dispute to the absence of strong regional political parties that can exert pressure on the Union government.
The order passed by the Supreme Court on the quantum of water to be released to Tamil Nadu and on formation of the Cauvery Management Board created an impression among the people in Karnataka that injustice was meted out to the State and there was a strong demand for interference from the Centre to evolve an amicable solution.
“BJP, that is in power in the Centre, enjoys an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha ... but it was not in a position to directly intervene in the dispute fearing that such a move might invite the wrath of regional parties of Tamil Nadu that have a strong presence in the Rajya Sabha. The Union government needs the support of regional parties to get crucial bills passed in the Upper House,” Mr. Gowda said.
Mr. Gowda further said that staging a dharna became inevitable for him to protect the interests of the people of Karnataka over the dispute after which the Centre submitted an affidavit to the apex court stating that the Cauvery Management Board cannot be formed in haste.
He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the office of the Attorney General of India for submitting the affidavit.
Mr. Gowda, though not directly claiming that it was his dharna that compelled the Centre to file an affidavit on CMB, said that the inference that can be drawn from these developments was that regional parties are necessary to protect the interests of the States in a federal democracy.
When asked about the apprehensions expressed by a few Muslim organisations over the affidavit submitted by the Union government to the Supreme Court with regard to the issue of triple talaq as an effort to introduce uniform civil code, he said that uniform civil code cannot be introduced in India that has a pluralistic culture.
“It is impossible to govern the nation inhabited by people from diverse cultural background with uniform set of laws. The Constitution has guaranteed right for every citizen over religious and cultural issues. It is unfair to interfere in religious believes and practices of the people,” he said.
Madhu Bangarappa, MLA for Sorab, Sharada Poorya Naik, MLA for Shivamogga Rural, and JD(S) district president M. Srikanth were present in the press conference.
