TUMUKURU/ GADAG /MANGALURU:For the first time during his election campaign in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke about the Mahadayi water dispute that had landed the state BJP in a spot of bother and promised to try for an amicable settlement through talks. During four rallies that he addressed in different parts of the state, the PM focused on farmers’ issues and also tried to woo Muslim women by talking about his government’s move to abolish triple talaq even as he promised justice to the families of about two dozen murdered BJP workers.
In Gadag, breaking his silence on the Mahadayi row, Modi called it a “legacy of the Congress” and accused the party of complicating matters by taking the dispute to a tribunal. Holding talks with the riparian states would be his party’s priority, he said. Gadag is one of the parched districts fighting for waters from Mahadayi river.
“The Congress whipped up sentiments of Goans on this issue but now it has lost its relevance there. Now the Congress government here is trying to mislead innocent farmers and people. But the BJP is committed to putting an end to this dispute by holding talks with riparian states,” Modi said.The BJP in Karnataka clamped up on the Mahadayi row after its chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa’s claim of resolving the dispute backfired in December last year. Armed with a letter from Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Yeddyurappa had claimed that Goa had agreed to release drinking water to Karnataka on a humanitarian basis only to witness protests outside his house the following day by farmers of North Karnataka demanding water.
Calling Mahadayi row the “classic example of Congress’ Atkana, Latkana, Bhatkana style of politics”, Modi reminded Siddaramaiah that in 2007 the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, during an election rally in Goa, had vowed not to allow diversion of Mahadayi waters.
Earlier, addressing a rally in Tumakuru, Modi lambasted the JD(S) and alleged a tacit understanding between the party and the Congress. Later in Mangaluru, accusing the Congress government of being soft on fundamentalists, the PM said many BJP workers were murdered in the state because of political differences. “Is this democracy? The culprits will be punished after May 12,” he said.
RIVER ROW
Karnataka government is asking for diversion of 7.56 tmcft of water through two separate canals, Kalasa and Banduri from Mahadayi river which flows into Goa and Maharashtra from Karnataka. Kalasa-Banduri Nala project is being undertaken by the state government to improve drinking water supply in the districts of Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag.