Bangalore: Protests against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu continued for the second day on Monday with authorities deciding to deploy Rapid Action Force (RAF) to maintain peace in Mandya, the epicentre of the stir, even as four JD(S) MLAs and an MP submitted resignations to the party state unit chief to protest the government action.
Lending their political might to the agitation, the four JD(S) MLAs and an MP submitted resignations to HD Kumaraswamy to protest the BJP government's action to release water complying with a Supreme Court order. Authorities said they have decided to deploy RAF to assist police in the wake of escalating protests.
More than 100 people were arrested at Gejjalagere in Mandya district, the hotbed of Cauvery politics, when they blocked the Shirdi express train, police said. Protests continued in Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Mandya, the Cauvery basin districts. Vehicular movement on the Bangalore-Mysore road was hit for the third day, police said.
JDS Lok Sabha member from Mandya N Cheluvarayaswamy and its four MLAs from Mandya district - Kalpana Siddaraju, CS Puttaraju, M Srinivas and AB Ramesh Bandisidddegowda submitted their resignation letters to Kumaraswamy. Speaking to reporters, Kumaraswamy said a meeting of party MLAs and MPs has been convened on Tuesday to decide the future course of action, including whether all its legislators should quit en masse. JD(S), which draws its core strength mainly from the Cauvery belt, has 26 MLAs and three MPs in the state....
03:26 PM, Oct 01, 2012
