BANGALORE, MARCH 16: Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Venkaiah Naidu today said that the Vajpayee government that would be sworn in on March 19 would strive for a national river water policy.Naidu who filed his nomination papers for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka Assembly told newsmen here he said a river water policy would be discussed threadbare with the friendly parties and it would find place in the national agenda being formulated by the party in consultation with its allies.Replying to a question on the controversial Almatti Dam row between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, he said a solution had to be found within the purview of the Bachawat Tribunal award and the new BJP government would strive for an amicable settlement.In Thiruvananthapuram, BJP national council member K Raman Pillai told newsmen that the new BJP government would find a solution to the vexed Cauvery dispute without adversely affecting Kerala's interests. Terming as ``ridiculous'' the criticismagainst the BJP on the Cauvery and Periyar issues even before the government was formed, he said the allegation that the BJP had agreed to AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha's demand for increasing the storage level of the Mullaperiyar dam was ``baseless.''He alleged that the Left Democratic Front and United Democratic Front governments had not protected the state's riparian rights. Meanwhile in Chennai yesterday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi held a meeting at the Secretariat to discuss the state's stand for the next Supreme Court hearing on the Cauvery waters sharing issue.
