No role in Mahadayi bandh; will support the cause: CM

Bengaluru, Jan 24: Denying the Bharatiya Janata Party’s charge that he is behind the proposed Karnataka bandh over the Mahadayi issue, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that he only support the cause of Kannadigas.

Responding to BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa’s charge, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the bandh had been called by Kannada groups and farmers’ organisations. “Actually it will be a problem for the government as it has to close schools and stop buses,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Yeddyurappa had said that even the protests outside the BJP’s office were “Congress-inspired”.

Referring to the Karnataka bandh called on January 25, coinciding with the BJP’s Parivarthana Yatra rally in Mysuru which is to be attended by the party’s national president Amit Shah, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the BJP was worried about poor turnout at the rally. He said the party leaders were embarrassed by the empty chairs during the previous rally attended by Mr. Shah in Bengaluru and were worried of a repeat in Mysuru.

He also dismissed the BJP charge that the government had ordered withdrawal of buses on Thursday to prevent crowds from gathering for the BJP rally. “The KSRTC may be planning to not ply buses in order to prevent their damage during the bandh. I don’t have such a petty mindset [to orchestrate it],” the CM said.

Meanwhile, the Congress said it supported the call for bandh demanding Modi's intervention to resolve the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute.

"Everybody must support the bandh call given by farmer groups and pro-Kannada organisations seeking Modi's intervention," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters in Bengaluru.