In poll-bound Karnataka, Congress pins hopes on 2 irrigation projects

BENGALURU: The Congress government in poll-bound Karnataka is underlining its election narrative of “promises kept” by inaugurating two major irrigation projects that were started just two years ago in North Karnataka, where a “trench war” is being fought with the opposition BJP.

The Siddaramaiah government has initiated and fasttracked the Rs 3,500-crore Tubachi-Bableshwar flood irrigation project, which was inaugurated last week, while the Rs 786-crore “world’s largest drip-irrigation project” at Ramthal, will be inaugurated on Monday.

These projects are located the districts of Bagalkote and Vijayapura, whose 16 constituencies are dominated by the Lingayat community which has been non-Congress and pro-BJP right from the late 1980s. Locals in the region are dubbing these projects as “neeru bhagya” (water fortune) in line with all the “bhagya” welfare schemes initiated by chief minister Siddaramaiah aimed at the weaker sections of society.


“The BJP is expecting to wrest most of the constituencies in this region, including Bableshwar, represented by water resources minister MB Patil. But we think the development narrative that we are showcasing through these irrigation projects will help us get past the BJP’s hold here,” a cabinet minister, who declined to be identified, told ET.

The Ramthal project, designed by Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam director and professor Aravind Galagali, uses drip and modern irrigation methods to halve the usage of water and double the produce. This has already been completed in most parts of Hungund taluk of Bagalkote district. “There is standing crop to show farmers how useful this project is. The yields are way more than what they would get with regular irrigation,” a water resources department official explained.

The BJP, however, brushes aside the projects and said that there were sufficient allegations of corruption by which they could counter their impact. “Also, in 2013, due to the split of votes between our party and the splinter Karnataka Janata Party of BS Yeddyurappa, the Congress managed to get several constituencies in Vijayapura and Bagalkote. This time, Yeddyurappa, the tallest leader of the Lingayat community, is himself leading the campaign. We are bound to get almost all the constituencies in this region,” a senior BJP leader said.

Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s CM face for this election, has been underlining the irrigation shortfalls of the Siddaramaiah government. All through his Jana Parivarthana rally in this region, he has promised that if elected to power, he would fast-track all irrigation requirements here and allocate more budgetary provisions for the same.