Mahadayi row may dent BJP’s election fortunes in K’taka
The Mahadayi river dispute may hurt the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) chances in the assembly elections just four months away in Congress-ruled Karnataka after its government in Goa upped the ante against sharing of the water with the southern state.
Karnataka and Goa, the riparian states of the Mahadayi river (known as Mandovi in Goa), are locked in a bitter battle over sharing of water, which originates in Belagavi in the southern state.
The Supreme Court ordered Karnataka last year to stop construction of a canal at Kankumbi was aimed at diverting water from the Mahadayi tributary.
Goa irrigation minister Vinod Palyekar on Saturday allegedly used abusive words towards the people of Karnataka after visiting the site of the Kalasa-Banduri Canal Project, which seeks to divert water from the Mahadayi to the arid Mumbai-Karnataka region — comprising Belagavi, Gadag, Vijayapura, Haveri, Dharwad and Bagalkot districts.
And on Sunday, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar said the state’s chief secretary had written to his counterpart in Karnataka “pointing out to violations of SC directives by the resumption of the work on a canal at the Mahadayi tributary”.
These developments took place after the issue escalated since former chief minister and state BJP president BS Yeddyurappa read out a letter from Parrikar on December 21, in which the Goa CM said he was willing to consider the diversion of water for drinking purposes in the arid northern regions of Karnataka.
Farmers in the region are up in arms after Goa objected to the proposed diversion of water.
Their anger boiled over because the letter was addressed to Yeddyurappa and not to the state government. They held a protest outside the BJP state office in Bengaluru.
Reacting to Palyekar’s comments and Goa’s claim that the work on the canal projects had not been stopped, state irrigation minister MB Patil said the allegations were completely baseless.
“It is clear that in a bid to save face in Goa, Parrikar has orchestrated this move because his letter to Yeddyurappa had drawn flak in that state,” Patil said.
According to Patil, who is a leader from the northern Mumbai-Karnataka region, where the river originates, the whole issue was avoidable.
“To discredit the state government and show that he was the only person who could solve the dispute, Yeddyurappa decided to play with the sentiments of the people of the region, especially farmers. This will definitely come back to haunt him,” Patil said.
The BJP rubbished any such threat.
“The party has already condemned the comments made by the minister and there is absolutely no threat of being caught on the wrong foot on this issue,” S Prakash, a spokesperson for the party, said.
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