BJP instigating people on Cauvery issue, won’t succeed: Congress

Even as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’s (INDIA) third meeting is all set to take place in Maharashtra’s Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 for two days, the Congress feels that it is the BJP that is instigating people to hold protests and create problems over the Cauvery water issue between the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments. The Congress also said that all the parties are united on the issue of the Cauvery water. The issue of the Cauvery water release by the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government to Tamil Nadu has gained momentum ahead of the INDIA alliance parties third crucial meeting in Mumbai. The meeting will also be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin. The two leaders might not discuss the Cauvery water issue in the INDIA alliance meeting, but Kharge being from Karnataka and Stalin from Tamil Nadu will be looking at each other with hope to take the alliance ahead for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections without any fissures. The Cauvery water dispute is quite old between the two states that had on multiple occasions led to violent protests with people taking to the streets over it. Speaking on the Cauvery water issue, if it will have any effect on the INDIA alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls which are just eight months away, Congress Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu’s Virudhu Nagar Manickam Tagore said, “It is a Tamil Nadu and Karnataka issue and the Congress in Tamil Nadu also supports the Cauvery water issue.”