Shiv Sena slams Manohar Parrikar for statement on sharing Mahadayi water

Panaji, Jan 5: The Shiv Sena has hit out at Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for his remarks on sharing river Mahadayi water with neighbouring states, including Karnataka.

Sena's Goa spokesperson Rakhi Prabhudesai-Naik yesterday said, "the chief minister's agreement to give river Mahadayi water to Karnataka was a shocking move for the coastal state, which trusted Parrikar's leadership."

"To make India 'Congress-mukt' (Congress free), BJP and Parrikar are all set to make Goa 'Mahadayi-mukt (Mahadayi free Goa) by stooping down to the lowest level of compromise over the (sharing of) river (water)," Prabhudesai-Naik said in a veiled reference to the upcoming Karnataka Assembly polls.

Parrikar had recently said that sharing the water of the Mahadayi river with other states was "inevitable". "One has to understand that 52 kms of the river runs through Goa, 35 kms through Karnataka and 16 kms through Maharashtra.

As such, sharing of water of the Mahadayi river is inevitable as it is passing through all the three states," he had said. She said the Sena had expected Parrikar to "fight like a real son of the soil" against all the attempts to share even a drop of water from the Mahadayi river.

"The statement by Parrikar that it is inevitable for Goa to give share of Mahadayi river water to Karnataka has completely exposed him and his party," the Sena spokesperson said. She said her party disagreed with Parikar's stand on the issue.

"The explanation given by Parrikar on why he has toned down his stand is completely unacceptable. It clearly smacks of his party politics and urge to win Karnataka elections," she alleged.

PTI