Hubballi: With BJP leader, B S Yeddyurappa skipping the Parivarthana rally in Nargund on Wednesday to fly to Delhi to hold talks with Goa Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar on the Mahadayi river dispute, all eyes are on the second leg of the yatra that will take off in the city on Thursday as he is expected to make an announcement on the occasion.
Mr Yeddyurappa is holding talks with Mr Parikkar in the presence of BJP national president, Amit Shah to find a solution to the dispute that is depriving Karnataka's farmers of the water they need from the Mahadayi river that originates in Goa.
Although farmer leaders have welcomed his initiative, most are afraid any announcement could be a mere eyewash to win over the farmers with elections round the corner. But local BJP local are confident Mr Yeddyurappa will be able to persuade the Goa Chief Minister to hold talks with Karnataka to let it utilise 7.56 tmc of the river water for drinking.
"The comprehensive project report of the Kalasa Banduri project was prepared and the foundation stone was laid in 1960. The BJP leaders should first publish a gazette notification on this if they have the political will to implement the project. We will not tolerate it if they make a hurried announcement just with an eye on the votebank," warned Kalasa Banduri Horata Samiti president, Vijay Kulkarni.
Speaking at Muddebihal in Vijayapur district on Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the BJP's sudden move to resolve the water dispute a political gimmick when it had failed to respond to the state's pleas on it in the past.
Meanwhile, with farmers holding a bandh in Navalgund town on Wednesday for an early solution to the Mahadayi dispute, traffic was held up on the Hubballi-Vijayapur National Highway-218. Thousands of farmers took out a procession raising slogans against the state and Union governments for their lethargy in resolving the water dispute and threatened to lay siege to the Hubballi Parivarthana rally if BJP leaders failed to make a worthwhile announcement on the occasion.
