Cauvery's first political victim; Ambareesh resigns

Bangalore, Feb 14: Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Congress leader M H Ambareesh today tendered his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers and the Lok Sabha in protest against the 'injustice' meted out to Karnataka in the final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

Participating in a function to release a special cover and cancellation as part of the Karnataka High Court's golden jubilee celebrations here, he announced that he had submitted his resignation from the Ministry to the Prime Minister and from the Lower House to the Speaker.

Popular Kannada actor Mr Ambareesh, representing Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, the hotbed of the Cauvery agitation, was inducted as an Union Minister in the last Cabinet expansion.

The resignation caught the Congress circles in the State unawares. Though there had been a demand from the people of Mandya for his resignation, he had been maintaining that he was prepared to do so if it would help the cause of the State. The State had been witnessing widespread protests after the February five Tribunal award, which directed Karnataka to release 192 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu pegging the State's requirement at 270 tmc ft as against 419 tmc ft of the lower riparian State.

The actor-turned-politician, who was elected from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency for a third time in 2004, had led a procession of cine artistes against the award in the city yesterday.

UNI

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