Amit Shah lied about Mahadayi project, alleges JD(S)

Noting the objections raised by Goa Public Works Department minister Nilesh Cabral, JD(S) said that the “double engine government has continued its drama over the Mahadayi project”. BJP is in power in Goa too, the party said in a tweet.

A minister in the Goa government and its Chief Minister said that they would not allow any water to flow to Karnataka. “On the other side, Union Minister Amit Shah – who is also from the same party, has lied (about the project) when the state was on the verge of elections. It is unfortunate that it (the project) has become a question of profit and loss,” the party said.

“For the double engine government which changes its colours like a chameleon, the problem of North Karnataka is just an election promise,” JD(S) said, accusing the saffron party of lacking basic humanity to address the drinking water woes of the region.

Goa has opposed the project ever since Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced the implementation of the project on the last day of the Winter Session of the legislature in Belagavi. The Goa government had sent a delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Union ministers opposing the Karnataka government’s announcement.

Shah had claimed recently that the BJP has settled the dispute over sharing the Mahadayi river water between Karnataka and Goa — which has been sought by the people of Kittur Karnataka for decades. “In 2007, Sonia Gandhi gave a speech in Goa and said that the Mahadayi waters will not be allowed to be diverted to Karnataka. In 2022, the Congress said in its manifesto that the party will resolve not to give a drop of Mahadayi water to Karnataka. Today the BJP has settled the Mahadayi dispute that is several years old by giving the Mahadayi water to Karnataka and for the farmers of many districts in Karnataka; it is a great thing,” Shah had said.

JD(S) said that such contrasting statements by leaders of the same party showed how the BJP is fooling people with lies and fake promises.