Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said the Cauvery water-sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu was “not a good thing for democracy”, PTI reported. “We are all one people,” the minister said at an event in Hyderabad. “We may be different states for administrative convenience and for developmental purpose. But at the end of the day we all are Indians…so, let us keep this spirit in mind and move forward.”

The minister’s comments came after the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka told the Supreme Court that it could not release water to its neighbouring state till the end of the year. The state filed a petition with the court seeking a modification to its order from September 20, when it directed the state to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 27.

Siddaramaiah wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday about the mandate from the legislature. The state wants the order to be modified so it does not have a set deadline for the number of days it needs to release water. The court’s September 5 order on the issue asking Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of water led to protests in the state, with farmers’ groups arguing it needs more water than its neighbour. However, Tamil Nadu also held a bandh on September 16, with farmers’ and traders’ bodies saying Tamilians had been targeted by Kannadiga protestors.