Karnataka   

Krishna hails Karunanidhi’s announcement on Hogenakkal project

Bangalore: The senior Congress leader S.M. Krishna on Saturday welcomed the announcement made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi that the Hogenakkal drinking water project would be put on hold till an elected government is in place in Karnataka.

Addressing journalists here, Mr. Krishna, who is the chairman of the party’s Election Management and Coordination Committee, described Mr. Karunanidhi’s statement as a magnanimous gesture that would help people of the two States live in peace by defusing the tension that had developed on the issue.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, Campaign Committee chairman Siddaramaiah and Manifesto Committee chairman C.K. Jaffer Sharief were present.

Mr. Krishna said Mr. Karunanidhi had decided to put the project on hold since Assembly elections were to be held in Karnataka next month.

Issues that had inter-State implications should be settled across the table by the two governments, he said.

PTI reports:

Thanking Mr. Karunanidhi for his decision to put the Hogenakkal project on hold, Mr. Krishna said it was a “great gesture from an elderly statesman”.

“An issue, which will have inter-State implications, has to be settled across the table through talks. Hence, the statement of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to put the project on hold is very welcome,” he said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Mr. Krishna said, “I expected this great gesture from an elderly statesman like Shri Karunanidhi. I just spoke to him, thanked him for the announcement that he has made. I think this will lay a solid foundation for a good-neighbourly relationship between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.”

Mr. Krishna also said he had no plans to seek legal intervention on the project. “There is no need for approaching the Supreme Court now, in the light of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi deciding to put the project on hold,” he told PTI here. He had earlier said that Karnataka would ill go to the apex court if necessary on the Hogennakal issue and that he was “not really concerned whether DMK is going to be upset or it is going to have an impact on the Central Government.”

He, however, refused to react to Tamil superstar Rajnikanth’s reported remarks blaming him and other political leaders for the controversy.

“I don’t want to comment. Rajnikanth has to do some introspection on his statement now.”

The former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also described Tamil Nadu’s decision as a “welcome development”.

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

Stories in this Section

Krishna hails Karunanidhi’s announcement on Hogenakkal project
Goa Government puts on hold mega housing project
AHINDA supporters urged to strengthen Congress
50 events to mark seer’s birthday
Measures for peaceful polls
Stick to model code, parties told
Rajnikanth’s stand assailed
Hogenakkal issue

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu