Shivakumar postpones meeting with Vijay amid protests over Cauvery water sharing

“I myself had requested to visit Tamil Nadu, but the [previous] DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam] government had not given permission. Later, elections took place, and the government changed. Now Vijay has said that he will come to Karnataka with his team. In such a situation, the developments around the protests are not giving us confidence,” Shivakumar said.

Farmers and Kannada outfits have staged protests against the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s (CWMA)’s rejection of Karnataka’s appeal against a direction to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days. Demonstrators tore posters of Vijay’s film Jananayagan and forced some theatres to halt its screening.

Shivakumar said Vijay’s visit should take place without the tensions. “We should create an opportunity to resolve this issue through cordiality. If the problem is resolved, it will benefit them as well as us. The atmosphere is not good now, so I will discuss requesting the Tamil Nadu chief minister to postpone our meeting for a few days,” he said.