Pro-Kannada activists protest at Vidhana Soudha following SC order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu

BENGALURU: Following the Supreme Court order directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, members of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) tried to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha.

Over a hundred members of the pro-Kannada organisation gathered at Maurya Circle and started marching towards Vidhana Soudha after the SC ordered the state to release water to Tamil Nadu. The police, who were deployed in large numbers, bundled them into BMTC buses and took them into custody.

Meanwhile, KRV president Narayana Gowda said that the state government should take a firm stand and should not release water to the neighbouring state. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should take a firm decision. Even if the government is removed, the leaders should stand with the farmers of the state during the time of distress,” he demanded.

Stating that KRV will intensify the protests across the state from tomorrow, Gowda said ministers, MLAs and MPs will be shown a black flag wherever they go. Also, it is learnt that the federation of pro-Kannada organisations is contemplating calling for Karnataka Bandh and a meeting will be convened in this regard on Friday.

Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the directive from the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) asking the Karnataka government to release 5,000 cusecs of water from the Cauvery and Krishna basins to Biligundulu, Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days.