BELAGAVI: Legislators are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters ahead of the Assembly elections. In a fresh case, Kagwad BJP MLA Shrimant Patil gave away a cheque of Rs 3.50 crore to the contractors of Irrigation Department for completion of the Basaveshwar Lift Irrigation Project being implemented in his constituency.
He handed over the cheque on behalf of Athani Sugars, a factory he owns, to contractor Yukta Electricals, which is taking up electrical work under the Basaveshwar Lift Irrigation Project. According to Patil, the project will be launched by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in the first week of March before the election code of conduct comes into force. One of the biggest lift irrigation projects in Karnataka, the project was launched by Siddaramaiah after he became CM.
He had said that the project would be ready in 36 months. However, the government changed and the project was moving at a snail’s pace. Under pressure from people, Shrimant Patil had stated in December last year that the project would be completed and that Bommai would inaugurate it in December. When the project could not be inaugurated in December, Patil later said that it would be inaugurated in February.
However, it is unlikely that the project would be ready before the polls, informed sources said. The election code of conduct would be in force once the notification for the polls is issued by the Election Commission of India and it will not be possible to inaugurate the project then, sources added.
While several leaders appreciated their gesture of Patil, many have slammed him. A potential Congress candidate from Kagwad, Raju Kage, also a former MLA, has hit out at the State Government for making MLA Patil pay Rs 3.5 crore for the project and said: “The government has gone bankrupt and that was why the MLA has funded the project.”
“After keeping silent for so many years without expediting the irrigation project, the MLA is hastily trying to get the project completed when the elections are approaching. How is it possible to complete such a mega project in a hurry?’’ another Congress leader questioned.
The project will irrigate 67,462 acres in 22 drought-prone areas of Kagwad constituency. Rs 1363.48 crore is being spent on the project under which a 55-km canal has been constructed to draw water to the fields.