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Congress, BJP members lock horns in Lok Sabha

Prakash Hukkeri seeks Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention
Last Updated 28 July 2016, 20:30 IST

The Congress and the BJP members from Karnataka locked horns in the Lok Sabha over the Mahadayi water dispute on Thursday.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Prakash Hukkeri (Congress) spoke of the protests in Belagavi, Gadag, Vijayapura and Dharwad districts in the wake of the interim order of the Mahadayi Tribunal, which rejected Karnataka’s petition seeking 7 tmc feet of water.

He also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should intervene in the matter. Hukkeri urged the prime minister to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of Karnataka and Goa to resolve the issue amicably.

The Congress members R Dhruvanarayana, S P Muddahanumegowda, B N Chandrappa, B V Naik and D K Suresh supported Hukkeri.

The BJP member Suresh Angadi attacked the Congress government in Karnataka for “not acting properly” on the issue.

This was strongly protested by the Congress members. Angadi was supported by his party colleagues from the state, including B S Yeddyurappa.

Angadi started reading a newspaper report on the speech by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while campaigning in Goa for the 2007 Assembly elections. Sonia had said that the diversion of Mahadayi water would not be allowed.

Angadi suggested the Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to speak to his party leaders in Goa to convince them against opposing the water diversion project.

The BJP and Congress members from the state traded charges and counter charges. At one point of time, Congress members stormed into the well of the House, when the ruling party members targeted the Congress chief.

The Congress members demanded that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar should spell out the government’s position.

Later speaking to reporters, Dhruvanarayana said it was unfortunate that the BJP members were trying to politicise the issue. Instead, the ruling party members should take the initiative to resolve the issue amicably, he said.

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(Published 28 July 2016, 20:30 IST)

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