GULBARGA: The Hyderabad-Karnataka Horata Samiti has accused the successive governments in the State of adopting an indifferent attitude while arguing Karnataka's cause with regard to its share of the Krishna and Cauvery waters before the tribunals and the Union Government, and thereby not protecting Karnataka's interests.

President of the samiti and former Minister Vaijnath Patil told presspersons here on Thursday that the State had always ended up the loser in such cases, whether it was with regard to the sharing of the Krishna or Cauvery waters or the apportionment of Kannada-speaking areas to Karnataka at the time of the formation of the States in 1956, as those in power lacked "fighting qualities" and assertiveness.

Mr. Patil said that the State Government should own up total responsibility for "losing out" its case with regard to the Cauvery issue, as it had failed to project its cause before the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in an effective manner and had not exerted enough pressure on the Union Government for justice to be dealt.

While supporting the widespread demonstration in the State against the verdict of the Cauvery tribunal, Mr. Patil who has been in the forefront of agitations to protect the State's interests with regard to its share of water from the Krishna and other basin rivers, said it was unfortunate that the people had not protested in a united manner on these issues too.

He said that the panel of advocates from the State, led by Fali Nariman, who had been arguing all the cases relating to the disputes over the sharing of the Cauvery and Krishna river waters, had failed to protect the interests of the State. He demanded that the State Government sack the panel and appoint another in its place.

Mr. Patil said the statements of Mr. Nariman and senior advocate Mohan Katarki in defence of the tribunal's verdict was shocking. He said the fact that the Government had taken three days to refute their statements aroused suspicions that it was backing them in this regard.

He was also critical of the silence of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on the issue, and wondered if this was because his son was at the helm of affairs in the State.

General Secretary of the samiti Hanumanthrao Desai, freedom fighter Vidhyadhar Guruji and Gulbarga district president of the samiti S.G. Melkundi were also present.

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