CHIKKABALLAPURA: BN Bache Gowda has one earnest wish: to solve the water crisis plaguing Chikballapur Lok Sabha constituency. This dry zone, which has no perennial river and where drinking water is scarce, depends entirely on lakes and borewells, and a whimsical monsoon.
Gowda, who claims descent from Bengaluru founder Kempe Gowda’s lineage, is looking to fill up tanks constructed by his ancestor, to solve the water crisis. Following years of failed monsoon, the underground water table has dipped, and even drilling down 1,200-1,500 feet has failed to strike water. In a few areas, people are forced to drink hard and fluoride laced water, and Bache Gowda is keen to give his people good, clean water.
When Sadananda Gowda was Karnataka chief minister, Bache Gowda was Hoskote MLA. During this time, the Yettinahole project had been taken up, but due to various reasons, land acquisition could not be completed within the stipulated period. Now, with all hurdles cleared and the National Green Tribunal also passing a positive order, Gowda says this project tops his priority list.
A familiar face on the Karnataka political landscape, Bache Gowda doesn’t bother to take on opponents, or court controversy, though his 40 years of political journey have had their ups and downs, ever since the 1970s.
Apart from the water crisis, he wants to work for suburban train facilities connecting various districts. He has already submitted a memorandum to Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and MoS Suresh Angadi to construct three flyover bridges and extend the suburban railway connecting Devanahalli - Chikkaballapura, Kunigal - Tumakuru, Bengaluru- Hosur, Chikkaballapura - Bagepalli- Puttaparthi and other places.
Chikballapur Lok Sabha, which he represents, includes three assembly segments from Chikkaballapura district, four from Bangalore Rural and Yelahanka. Among these eight segments, except Yelahanka, none is represented by BJP legislators. He defeated former Union minister and former chief minister Veerappa Moily by a margin of 1.82 lakh votes, and is considered a giant-slayer.
Bache Gowda, who contested from Hoskote assembly segment eight times, won five times and served as minister for animal husbandry, transport, urban development, labour and sericulture and unsuccessfully contested the 2014 parliamentary election.