Karnataka BJP faces farmers’ wrath as Mahadayi River sharing row intensifies

The farmers also said that they are going ahead with the bandh in five districts of the state after their meeting with the BJP failed to reach a consensus.
Karnataka BJP faces farmers’ wrath as Mahadayi River sharing row intensifies
Karnataka BJP faces farmers’ wrath as Mahadayi River sharing row intensifies
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The stir over the Mahadayi River issue has intensified and the protesting farmers have targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party specifically. They said they will go ahead with the bandh they called for in five districts of Karnataka after the BJP failed to pacify them.

On Tuesday, state BJP Chief BS Yeddyurappa was unceremoniously booed by angry farmers who had gathered outside the party office in Bengaluru.

Over 500 farmers from Gadag, Bagalkote, Hubballi and Dharwad landed in Bengaluru on Saturday night and staged a satyagraha outside the BJP office in Malleshwaram

The farmers are planning to meet the governor at his residence to seek a resolution to the issue. “We are fed up with the BJP’s false promises. The BJP is in power in the Centre and it holds power in Goa. We want them to confirm that they will release the water for us,” said Kurubara Shantakumar, member of the Karnataka Farmers Association.

He also lashed out at parties playing politics over the issue. “Political parties and leaders are just talking about it but we need to see a resolution and we need water in the drought-prone areas,” he said.

Schools and colleges in Dharwad, Gadag, Hubballi and Bagalkote have declared a holiday on Wednesday as a precautionary measure.

The farmers expressed their ‘disappointment’ over the tone of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s letter to Yeddyurappa over the Mahadayi water sharing issue. BJP leaders claimed that they had held negotiations with Goa CM Manohar Parrikar and had reached a compromise over the sharing of Mahadayi River water.

Leaders from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) met the protesting farmers as well in an attempt to appease them.

The BJP meanwhile held a core committee meeting on Tuesday in Yeddyurappa’s residence to discuss the political situation in the state.

The state of Karnataka and Goa are at loggerheads over the issue of sharing the inter-state Mahadayi River water. While the river originates from Karnataka, a major part of it flows in Goa.

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