Bangalore, July 17: Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna said on Wednesday that he was ready to hold a dharna, along with an all-party delegation from the state, in front of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence in New Delhi seeking more drought relief from the Centre. Responding to ABPJD member S S Patil's suggestion in the state assembly that both the opposition and the ruling members hold such a dharna to press the state's case, Krishna said, "if it's the opinion of the entire house, I am ready". He earlier said Karnataka was enjoying good relations with the Centre and it's not the attitude of the state to adopt a confrontationist approach against it. But, whenever there were shortcomings on the Centre's part, the state had always pointed them out, he added. The matter came up when the house was discussing the drought situation and relief works taken up in this regard. JD-U leader P G R Sindhia demanded that the state government bring out a white paper detailing the steps taken by it on seeking drought relief and the Centre's responses to it.


The matter should have been taken at National Development Council meeting, Sindhia said.
Leader of opposition Jagadish Shettar alleged that some of the ruling party members were making provocative statements against the Centre on the drought relief issue.
Bureau Report