A disagreement over the proposed Mekedatu dam has spilled into the open within the Congress, with Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president Manickam Tagore taking sharp jibes at each other.
Shivakumar made it clear that he is not willing to back down on a project that Karnataka considers important, even if it means going against the position of his party’s Tamil Nadu unit. “Let anyone condemn; I am least bothered. It is my state, my right,” Shivakumar said on Saturday (November 14), responding to Tagore’s criticism of his push for the dam.
Invitation to TN leaders
Taking a swipe at the political opposition in Tamil Nadu, he said, “If Congress doesn’t condemn, DMK will condemn. If DMK doesn’t condemn, AIADMK will condemn. Then everyone may condemn.”
Also read: Shivakumar to Modi on Mekedatu: ‘No one can stop it, help us legally’
Shivakumar also invited Tamil Nadu leaders to visit Karnataka with a delegation, saying he would take them to the proposed project site and explain how the reservoir would benefit the neighbouring state. He maintained that Karnataka would honour Tamil Nadu’s entitlement to 177 TMC of Cauvery water.
Tagore hits back
Hitting back at the Karnataka CM, Tagore, in a strongly worded post on X, called Shivakumar’s remarks “painful” and “deeply condemnable”. TNCC chief accused him of adopting a “stubborn stance” that went against federalism, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award and the interests of Tamil Nadu’s farmers.
“It is deeply condemnable that Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mysuru, said, ‘No one can stop the construction of a dam at Mekedatu’,” Tagore said.
He argued that Karnataka could not unilaterally take up a project that could affect the rights of a lower-riparian state, particularly when Tamil Nadu’s challenge to the project was pending before the Supreme Court.
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Tagore also urged the Centre not to grant the necessary clearances and called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to intensify the legal fight against the project. He said he would raise the issue in Parliament.
Mekedatu row
The exchange followed Shivakumar’s appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (November 13) to secure the final statutory clearances and legal assistance for the Mekedatu balancing reservoir.
Karnataka maintains that the project would help meet Bengaluru’s drinking water needs without affecting Tamil Nadu’s allocated share of the Cauvery.