BJP’s trouble arises from Mahadayi
Party’s revival attempts in crucial BombayKarnataka region are hit by unrest over the water sharing dispute with Goa and Maharashtra — states governed by it
BENGALURU: Standing outside the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) state office here, SB Jogannavar, a farmer from Nargund in Gadag district, recounted the assurances party’s Karnataka president BS Yeddyurappa had made while ensuring that the Mahadayi river water diversion project would become a reality.
The project hit a roadblock in 2010 with the setting up of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal, with Goa objecting to the proposed diversion of water from the river’s tributaries. As a result, farmers in the Bombay-Karnataka region – comprising Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Gadag, Viajayapura and Haveri districts – in the northern part of the state are up in arms.
Anger against Yeddyurappa boiled over the past week after he made public a letter from Goa chief minister Manorhar Parrikar, expressing willingness to discuss the diversion of water for drinking purposes, at a rally in Hubballi. “If (Parrikar) was sincere he would have written to the Karnataka government and not his own party leader,” Jogannavar said. Add to this the perception that BJP’s national leaders have “failed to ensure any discussion” on the issue. “Of the three states that are party to the dispute, Goa and Maharashtra are governed by BJP. So, they should have taken the lead on this.”
The troubling aspect of the protests for Yeddyurappa, and the BJP in the state, was the threat from farmers of helping defeat the party if it did not act fast.
With assembly elections around the corner, in May, the BJP cannot afford any serious erosion in its base in this region.
The party’s victory in 2008, when it formed a government in a southern state by itself for the first time, was possible in large part to the 36 seats it captured in this region, which accounts for 50 of the 224 seats in the state. In 2013 elections, the BJP managed to win just 12 seats in the region.
Additionally, Yeddyurappa’s position as the dominant leader of the Lingayats, majority of whom reside in this region, has been contested by a faction that has demanded separate religion status for the community.
The BJP has reacted to the farmers’ protest by calling it “a Congress ploy” to discredit it. The Congress says the saffron party “has exposed itself to ridicule by creating such a gimmick”.
Dinesh Gundu Rao, working president of the state Congress, said while the Lingayat issue was something the party would have to deal with, on the Mahadayi front, the BJP has been caught on the wrong foot. “Our chief minister (Siddaramaiah) has written to them (BJP-ruled Goa and Maharashtra) repeatedly, asking for a discussion, but there has been no response at all,” he said.
With BJP president Amit Shah set to arrive in Bengaluru on Sunday to take stock of the local party’s preparedness, political analysts said the latest episode would have convinced him and the other central leaders that the election would have to be managed completely by them.
Sandeep Shastri, pro vicechancellor of Jain University, said the BJP was no longer setting the agenda in the region.
“It has been caught on the back foot on a series of issues over the past year,” he said.