National   

Cauvery issue to be discussed

Special Correspondent

Speaker concedes Gowda's request

NEW DELHI: Despite the stiff resistance put up by Tamil Nadu members against a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee decided to allow the vexed issue to be discussed in the House. Disclosing this in the House on Thursday, he said, however, priority would be given to financial business.

Mr. Chatterjee ended the suspense on the matter during a last-minute intervention by the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. Since a meeting convened by the Speaker on Tuesday to arrive at a consensus on allowing a discussion on Cauvery remained inconclusive, Karnataka members were particularly agitated over the issue.

Though the discussion on the Motion of Thanks was wrapped up on Wednesday evening, the Speaker conceded a request by Mr. Gowda for time to make an intervention on the condition that he would not bring up the Cauvery issue, which forced a brief adjournment of the proceedings on Thursday.

Stating that he would keep his promise of not raising the Cauvery issue, the former Prime Minister, however, wondered whether "the compulsions of coalition politics and exigencies of power play" could be allowed to gag the voices of five-and-a-half crore citizens who wanted to find expression through their elected representatives in Parliament.

"Are these signs of a mature and vibrant democracy that we take pride in," Mr. Gowda asked, adding that it was important to send out the message that Parliament thinks, behaved and acted as one nation and not as "divided principalities of British India." Having said this, he articulated the request of Karnataka MPs for a discussion on Cauvery under Rule 193; bringing Tamil Nadu MPs on their feet.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cauvery issue to be discussed
Rymbai to consult loyalists
Opposition: explain surplus in Railways
U.S. delegation calls on Buddhadeb
Trinamool suspends Pande
"Ready for talks on Singur"
Brief for talks gets approval
BJP dissatisfied with reply
`Withdrawal of troops will give relief'
Fire breaks out at Ansal Bhawan
BJP rakes up Subba issue again
Court: fake licence holder cannot claim insurance
Make country free of destitute women, Kalam tells NCW
Madhya Pradesh polling peaceful
Horse trader's house raided
Three-year jail for Monica Bedi
ILO warns of "feminisation of poverty"
Karunanidhi warns against violence

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu