BJP committed to North Karnataka farmers’cause says Bommai

Bengaluru, Nov 19: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday accused the Opposition Congress of failing to respond to the plight of farmers of the northern part of the state when it was in power.

Addressing the ''Jan Swaraj'' Yatra organised by the BJP against the backdrop of the legislative council polls in Koppal, Mr Bommai reminded the people of the Congress' "Padayatra (march)" towards Krishna with a promise of spending ₹ 10,000 crore annually and ₹ 50,000 crore during its five-year term to complete all the irrigation projects in the Krishna river basin.

"However, none of the works in the basin were taken up. Congress betrayed the people of northern Karnataka," Mr Bommai charged.

It is a matter of some consolation that the present BJP government provided ₹ 2,100 crore for the modernisation of the Tungabhadra left bank canal, he said.

Referring to the construction of a balancing reservoir to the Tungabhadra dam as the capacity of the dam has been reduced due to accumulation of silt, the chief minister said a detailed project report (DPR) had been prepared for the project at a cost of ₹ 20 crore.

All measures will be taken to fulfill this long-pending demand of farmers of the region, Bommai said.

The chief minister alleged that the Congress did not take up irrigation projects for Koppal as none of its ministers bothered to care for the projects.

BJP's commitment for the development of north Karnataka was further amplified by the decision of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa to rename the Hyderabad-Karnataka region as Kalyana Karnataka.

(PTI)