Deve Gowda

HASSAN: The former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, said he had not discussed the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal with his son, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

He was speaking to presspersons after performing a special puja at the Lakshmi Narasimha temple in Holenarsipur in Hassan on Saturday.

Mr. Gowda stuck to his line even when it was pointed out that Mr. Kumaraswamy claimed he had discussed the issue with his father. Mr. Gowda said he had asked the State Government to circulate copies of the judgment to all MPs.

Mr. Gowda said the Opposition parties were in favour of discussing the matter together. It was yet to be decided whether to move the Supreme Court on the issue or file a review petition before the Tribunal, he added.

"Complicated verdict"

Mr. Gowda said the tribunal judgment was complicated and one could not make loose statements when the State's interests were involved.

He said he wanted the Karnataka Government to examine the issue before taking a final decision. This was not an issue to be debated openly. It was impossible to read the 1,000-page judgment in two days. He said the Chief Minister would examine the award from the legal point of view.

Asked whether Prime Minister V.P. Singh in 1991 did the right thing by referring the Cauvery river dispute to the Tribunal, Mr. Gowda said: "Let us not conduct a post-mortem on the issue."

When presspersons insisted that he comment on the issue as the State had pinned its hopes on him, Mr. Gowda said: "One man cannot solve the problem." The matter had to be discussed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry and the Union Government, he added.

On the bandh call given by pro-Kannada organisations and supported by others on Monday, Mr. Gowda said he had never issued a bandh call in his entire political career.

Mr. Gowda said he would be going to New Delhi on Sunday, where he would discuss the matter with legal experts.

Commenting on the statement of the Chief Minister that he was ready to resign if it helped in resolving the Cauvery crisis, Mr. Gowda wanted to know whether people of Karnataka had demanded the resignation of Mr. Kumaraswamy? "If MPs' resignation will solve the crisis, then let us follow suit."

MPs' meeting

The Chief Minister would convene a meeting of all MPs in New Delhi on February 22, a day prior to the Parliament session.

"Let us see how the matter is projected in Parliament," he added.

Mr. Gowda refused to comment on whether he would speak to the Prime Minister and the President in New Delhi. "I have served as the Chief Minister and as the Prime Minister. I will not talk lightly on a sensitive issue such as the Cauvery one," he added.

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