Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Oct 15: 

Two days after meeting the President of India over Mahanadi water sharing dispute with Chhattisgarh, all 16 MLAs of Odisha Congress, led by Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, today met AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and apprised him of the situation.

Pic Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com/ Pic Courtesy: www.financialexpress.com/

Even though the MLAs refused to take questions from the press after the meeting, party’s Odisha In-charge BK Hariprasad said that the MLAs raised pressing issues of the state including Mahanadi water sharing dispute during the meeting.

According to Hariprasad, Rahul said that it was the job of the Prime Minister to get the Chief Ministers of the states in loop and work out a solution. The official stand of AICC on the issue, however, was not shared with the press.

The meeting bears significance given the involvements of two state units of Congress that have taken stands against each other over the water sharing dispute.

Odisha Congress claims that the state would get affected because of the barrages already built and under construction at the upper catchment of Mahanadi in Chhattisgarh. It has also been batting for a hold on further construction until consensus is reached.

The Chhattisgarh state unit, on the other hand, claims that the construction taken up there are based on the water sharing agreement with Odisha and defends the construction.