In a flip-flop, Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said that the decision to put the Hogenakkal project on hold is absolutely that of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

"An impression is created that Congress president Sonia Gandhi personally talked to M Karunanidhi to keep the Hogenakkal project on hold," he said in a statement in New Delhi on Wednesday, backtracking on his previous statement in Bangalore on the subject.

Moily, the All India Congress Committee media department chairman, had on Tuesday said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi spoke to Karunanidhi and requested him to defer the project.

Today, he clarified that the decision to put the Hogenakkal project on hold is absolutely the decision of Karunanidhi as he feels that there is no popular government in Karnataka in place to resolve the issue.

"It is clarified that the Congress president is interested in an amicable settlement of the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and she is very much concerned about the environment of peace and cordiality between the people of both the states to prevail," Moily said.

"The gesture on the part of Karunanidhi is very much appreciated by the people of Karnataka," he added.

Karunanidhi has already said that the decision was not based on any request made by the Congress and was meant for the welfare of the people of both the states.

Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam's opponent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has charged Karunanidhi with putting the Hogenakkal water project on hold as he expects a cabinet berth for his daughter, Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi.

The deferment of the project has come as a breather for the Congress in poll-bound Karnataka as it threatened to become a major issue in the coming assembly elections.