Adding to the ongoing acerbic commentary over the Central Water Commission's nod to Karnataka's Kalasa-Banduri project over the Mahadayi river ahead of the state assembly polls, a senior state BJP leader and former Water Resources Minister Dayanand Mandrekar on Friday likened Karnataka's netas to Mahabharata villain Duryodhan.
Speaking at a special meeting of the Goa Legislators Forum called by ex legislators to discuss the ongoing Mahadayi issue, Mandrekar, who is a member of the party's state executive also suggested that Karnataka was indulging in "dadagiri" over the water sharing issue.
“When I was a Minister for five years, we fought to protect Mahadayi. Many people who were concerned about the issue used to meet me. That time such ‘dadagiri’ (from Karnataka) was not there,” he said.
“I have read statements of the Karnataka Chief Minister in newspapers. We are neighbours. Even if neighbours are bad, we should not become enemies. Because you never know what problem we could face in the future and neighbors could come to your rescue or help. We should live with love for each other... But the way they (Karnataka politicians) speak is like Duryodhan of 'satyayuga' who are doing dadagiri," he said.
The meeting of ex-legislators was called by the forum on Friday to discuss issues related to the Mahadayi river and Land Revenue issue which were raised during the discussion previously.
“How this can happen now, we are into democracy. We have all rights. Not only elected representatives, but common men have all rights to fight against injustice. This is a serious issue. Natural flow of water can’t be diverted,” Mandrekar said, adding that just because Karnataka was a big state it should not indulge foist an injustice on Goa.
“Here one crore tourists visit every year. From where we will provide them water [once the river water is diverted]?,” Mandrekar said.