BENGALURU: With the 2023 assembly elections barely 14 months away, the Congress and JDS are preparing to slug it out for supremacy in the Vokkaliga heartland of Old Mysuru. KPCC president D K Shivakumar, sensing a “conspiracy” by the JDS and BJP, had sarcastically stated that he has no stamina to compete against JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda and his family members. The recent MLC polls gave a fillip to the Congress, which won most of the seats in the region -- except Hassan where Gowda’s grandson Dr Suraj Revanna’s victory was a face-saver for the JDS.
Shivakumar is keeping up the momentum with a ‘padayatra’ for implementation of the Mekedatu irrigation project. He has completed a tour of the region, including Hassan district, and managed to keep the party organisation on its toes, and also send a message to rival parties.
JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy responded quickly to the Mekedatu issue, claiming that it was he, as head of the Congress-JDS alliance government, who had submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Centre. “As Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court, the Centre asked Karnataka to convince the neighbouring state. Will this padayatra fetch a nod from the Central Water Commission? Let the Congress demand that the BJP take an all-party delegation to New Delhi, and we will join,” he suggested sarcastically.
He also alleged that the Congress has no moral ground to hold a padayatra, as the allocation of 9 tmcft water, of 64 tmcft in the DPR, was denied to Karnataka. Kumaraswamy said Shivakumar was creating a drama over Mekedatu.