Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah reaches Delhi to attend meeting on Cauvery water dispute

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing Cauvery River water-sharing dispute, Karanataka chief minister Siddaramaiah reached Delhi late Tuesday night.

Siddaramaiah's arrival in the national capital comes ahead of a meeting that is slated to be held today and will be attended by Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar, MPs and ministers from his state. Apart from the Cauvery dispute, state projects pending before the Central government and drought relief issues will also be discussed.

Meanwhile, Karnataka government's Delhi Special Representative TB Jayachandra has already reached New Delhi and is holding preliminary discussions at Karnataka Bhavan for the important meeting to be held tomorrow.

The meeting will be attended by Union ministers representing Karnataka, Lok Sabha members and Rajya Sabha members of the state.

Earlier last week Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the state is not in a position to release water to its adjacent state, Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order.

"We have faced a severe deficit of rain in August compared to the previous 100 years. We don't have water, that's why we are not in a position to release water as per the SC order," Siddaramaiah said speaking to reporters after an All-Party Meeting on the Cauvery water dispute.

Following the All-Party meeting, Siddaramaiah added that it has been decided in the All-Party Meeting to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and meet all Karnataka MPs and Ministers in Delhi.

"We have also decided to write a letter to the Prime Minister of India and also the Water Resources Minister that we are coming in a delegation, please give us a date. We are thinking of going to Delhi to meet all the MPs there and ministers who are from Karnataka," he said.