MANGALURU: Former Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that the BJP-JD(S) coalition has not reached the ticket and seat-sharing stage yet.
On Thursday, he said that the talks are still in the preliminary stage.
"Party high command will discuss the BJP-JD(S) coalition in the days to come. Leaders will talk to us before making a decision. The purpose of the coalition is to ensure unity of opposition in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha polls. However, it has not reached a stage of seeking opinion from us," he said.
On deficit rainfall in Karnataka, Bommai said that the government should have been active when the state received no pre-monsoon showers.
"The government has delayed the announcement of drought-hit taluks and it failed to seek reports on time. We have already lost the pre-monsoon and the government should now think of distributing compensation to farmers for their loss. We have distributed compensation to flood-hit farmers, within a month without even waiting for the Centre’s guidelines. However, the Congress government is blaming the Centre and has no intention of helping people in distress," he added.
Further, Bommai lashed out at the Congress government over the Cauvery water issue stating that CM Siddaramaiah was not ready to talk to his Tamil Nadu counterpart. "They speak about the INDIA front, but not about Karnataka’s rights. Our CM is not ready to talk to his Tamil Nadu counterpart. The government should stand firm on the decision that we will not release water. We will also stand with the government. We will fight against the government if it releases water," he said.
Karnataka was releasing water, even when the water levels of dams in Tamil Nadu were at the brim, he said. "Since the government is not fighting the issue legally, farmers of the Cauvery banks and people of Bengaluru will suffer," he said.
