BENGALURU: Ahead of the assembly polls which are scheduled to be held early next year, the state government has started work on the Rs 600 crore ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ project in Bidar. The project was in cold storage for the last two years after former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa laid its foundation stone in January 2021. The government’s move is being seen as an attempt to woo the Lingayat voters from the Kalyan Karnataka region.
The Anubhava Mantapa, set up by 12th-century reformer Basaveshwara is considered to be the ‘first Parliament of the world.’ The project, which aims at promoting the teachings of Basaveshwara, was first proposed in 2016 by the then-Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the state.
Mantapa to have 6 floors
Later, in 2019, it was approved by the state cabinet during then CM B S Yediyurappa’s tenure.
As per the plan, the complex will have six floors with 770 pillars and will be built on the Chalukyan style of architecture.
It will also have an auditorium with a seating capacity of 770 as it is believed that there were 770 Sharanas (Basavanna’s followers) in the Anubhava Mantapa. Sources from Basavakalyan Development Board said that administrative approval for the revised estimate of Rs 612 crore was given in June and a work order to the Pune-based company was given only in August. “Work on the foundation of the complex started just a few weeks ago,” said sources. “If it is not done or initiated even after hanging fire for so long, it might boomerang on the party which is largely depending on the Lingayat vote base. If the project had started on time, half the work would have been completed by now,” officials said.
In 2021, just a few weeks before the bypolls in Basavakalyana, the then CM Yediyurappa laid the foundation where he had announced that the work would be completed in two years. However, the work has not even started as the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project was not prepared and without the DPR, tenders for the actual work cannot be floated. This year, in April, CM Bommai had said that the work will begin in May 2022, which didn’t happen. In fact, in May, Bommai chaired the Basavakalyan Development Board meeting where he set a deadline of three years for the completion of the work.