GADAG, 27 JULY 

Former State chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday condemned Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's statement on the Mahadayi river project but questioned whether the Congress had any moral right to speak on the issue. He claimed that all progress that has been made on the Mahadayi project happened under the BJP government.

"Congress leader Sonia Gandhi herself, during the Goa polls, said that not a single drop of Mahadayi water would be given to Karnataka. What moral right does Congress have to speak on this issue?" he asked.

"There is no need to politicise the Mahadayi project issue. We are all united as this is an issue concerning the State,” the BJP leader said. “I condemn the statement made by the Chief Minister of Goa. He must act by the law, and hence I condemn his remarks."

Addressing the Goa Assembly last week, Sawant claimed that the Centre would not approve the Mahadayi project, and that his government would file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for trying to divert the Mahadayi water.

Bommai accused the Congress party of building a barrier to prevent Mahadayi water from flowing into the Malaprabha river, thereby obstructing the interlinking canal work initiated during the BJP regime, and this was the only "contribution" Congress made to the Mahadayi project.