Cauvery row needs amicable settlement: Patel

Welcoming the proposal for a National Water Policy, Patel said such a policy had to be formulated and put in place before the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the Cauvery waters dispute or the notification on implementing the interim award is given. Karnataka is opposed to the interim award granted by the Cauvery river sharing tribunal.

8220;The Cauvery issue cannot be solved sitting at Delhi. If such an attempt is made it will aggravate the problem8221;, he said.A mutually agreeable and amicable solution had to be reached on the matter of sharing the Cauvery river waters, Patel told journalists after his meeting with the Prime Minister.

While Cauvery topped the agenda of his meeting, Patel is emphatic that Vajpayee should take the lead in convening a 8220;national discussion8221; on the problems facing the country8217;s politics.

Listing rampant corruption, the lack of a code of conduct among politicians and criminality which he said have become 8220;a virtue in the body politic today8221;, Patel said the Prime Minister 8220;should take the initiative8221;.

8220;Today we don8217;t have a Jayaprakash Narayan or a Ram Manohar Lohia. So why not an initiative by the Prime Minister taking all the political parties into confidence? Some effort is necessary more as an exercise to find solutions to the country8217;s problems8221;, he said.

Vajpayee should not be content with merely running the government, but have a larger perspective on where the country was going and evolve a national effort onthe long-term problems.

Questioned about dissent within the ranks of the State Janata Dal unit, especially complaints by a cabinet colleague, PGR Sindhia that he felt suffocated in the party, Patel was categorical. 8220;Those who feel suffocated can move out for fresh air8221;, he retorted.

8220;Those who felt suffocated and left the party before elections are getting a taste of the air in other parties8221;, he laughed, referring to former Union minister RL Jalappa who has since joined the Congress and others who have teamed up with Ramkrishna Hegde8217;s Lok Shakti.

Patel said he had impressed on the Prime Minister on the urgency of reaching immediate aid to distressed farmers in the State. With reports of farmers being driven to suicide coming in, the State has appealed to the Prime Minister to release an additional grant of Rs 124 crore as central aid.

Though Vajpayee did not make any promises, Patel was confident that the Centre would consider Karnataka8217;s case favourably. Another pressing issue was that of theacute drinking water crisis in the State for which the State has demanded Rs 35 crore from the calamity relief fund as well as long-term solutions to water shortages in the State.

The inordinate delay in the Centre agreeing to counter-guarantees for the Cogentrix power project, Karnataka8217;s inclusion in the National Highway project and the resource crunch following the Fifth pay commission were other issues he raised with Vajpayee.