HDK swears by consensus on Cauvery issue

BANGALORE: THOUGH goaded by widespread protests against the Cauvery water disputes tribunal’s final award, Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy has reiterated that his government will finalise its stand only after arriving at a consensus after consulting technical and legal experts as well as leaders of all political parties.

“There is no question of taking any unilateral decision,’’ he said in the state assembly clarifying that his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with deputy chief minister B D Yediyurappa in Delhi on Wednesday had nothing to do with the Cauvery issue.

Making it clear that the government would convene another meeting of all party leaders as well as consult the state MPs on the Cauvery issue before February 22 to finalise its stand on whether to approach the tribunal seeking a clarificatory order or move the Supreme Court against the injustice done to Karnataka, he said the JD(S)-BJP coalition regime was not interested in making political capital out of the issue or blaming the Congress-led UPA regime.

Meanwhile, Kannada film stars and other bigwigs in the film industry took out a massive Raj Bhavan Chalo programme from the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce to submit a memorandum to governor T N Chaturvedi urging the Centre not to notify the ``blatantly one-sided’’ final award of the tribunal.