The Karnataka government on Tuesday softened its demand to redraft the Parliament bill giving special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region under the Article 371. Chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who held a breakfast meeting here with all MPs and Union ministers from his state, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister Sushilkumar Shinde to move the bill in its current form and pass it in the current session. The state government’s capitulation over the issue has come in the wake of allegations from various quarters that the ruling BJP’s position over the matter would only help to create further delay in fulfilling the longstanding demand of the people from the region. Earlier, the issue created a controversy when parliamentary standing committee on Home affairs led by BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Venkaiah Naidu returned the Bill to the home ministry asking to draft a fresh bill after consulting the state government. The state government had also stood firm on its demand to modify the draft.
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Cauvery row: Jaya to meet shettar Nov. 29
S. SASIDHARAN
CHENNAI, NOV. 27
Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa will meet her Karnataka counterpart Jagadish Shivappa Shettar in Bengaluru on Thursday to iron out their differences on the long-drawn Cauvery water dispute, in a first such meeting to be held in connection with the problem after 14 years. The meeting follows the Supreme Court’s suggestion to chief ministers of both states to find an amicable solution in a “congenial manner” in the interest of the farmers of their states. Barely a few hours after the apex court’s suggestion came on Monday, Tamil Nadu made the first move. It was Tamil Nadu chief secretary Debend-ranath Sarangi who called his Karnataka counterpart, expressing the willingness of Ms Jayalalithaa to hold discussions. A Tamil Nadu government release said, “As per the direction of the apex court, CM Jayalalithaa will meet the Karnataka CM on November 29.”