The State BJP Yuva Morcha will take out a three-day padayatra from Chikkaballapur to Bengaluru from December 20 seeking a permanent solution to the drinking water crisis in the districts of Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural.
In a way, the BJP has been struggling to create a political base for itself in the arid districts of Chikkaballapur and Kolar and pockets of Bengaluru rural districts. The party has only one legislator in the Legislative Assembly from the three districts which sends a total of 16 MLAs to the Lower House. Sources in the BJP said the party was working towards making inroads in the three districts by raking up an issue close to the people ahead of the polls to rural local bodies next year. The padayatra is a step towards that direction. In the next phase, the BJP will also try to create a political constituency for itself in the Vokkaliga heart land of Mandya-Chamarajnagar and Hassan, where too it has a weak base.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, BJP State Yuva Morcha Muniraju Gowda said, “People of the three districts have been repeatedly promised permanent drinking water supply but to no avail. The proposed Yethinahole project can provide only 22 tmc ft of water while the total requirement is 100 tmc ft. We feel only a people’s movement can help yield results,” Muniraju Gowda said.
As many as 2,000 youths have so far confirmed participation in the padayatra which seeks to cover a distance of 65 kms in three days, Gowda said.
DH News Service