At Nargund, Gadag district, a hero stone stands dedicated to the memory of 24-year-old farmer Sri Eerappa Basappa Kadlikoppa, who died in police firing during an agitation on July 21, 1980. In the run-up to that fateful day, the farmers of Nargund were locked in a fight with the then Congress government under chief minister R Gundu Rao, over a 'betterment levy' imposed on them, following the completion of Navilu Theertha dam - also known as Malaprabha dam. The farmer's hopes of benefiting from the irrigation project had been dashed soon after its completion, due to a faulty design, and the levy made it worse, leading to widespread protests. On July 21, 1980, the farmers were responding to a nationwide bandh call and took out a rally to block the tehsildar's office. When farmers lay down on the road to block his entry, locals say the tehsildar walked over them. When the enraged farmers tried to storm the tehsildar's office, a sub-inspector shot Eerappa as he fired to disperse the crowd. It took till evening that day for the local administration to bring the violent confrontation under control, that left two cops dead and several officials injured, including the tehsildar, and reduced several government offices and vehicles to ashes. Few metres behind the hero stone stands a new protest site - active since July 16, 2015 - of the Rait Sena, a farmers' organisation at the forefront of an agitation demanding the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project over the Mahadayi river. Convinced that the representatives of national parties have milked the project only for political benefit, the Rait Sena has decided to field Veeresh Sobaradhmath, who heads the Sena, from Nargund constituency. The Rait Sena has held various demonstrations over the past several years, demanding the implementation of the project. A bandh call in 2017 by the organisation with the help of pro-Kannada organisations, urging the government to complete the Mahadayi project, had evoked a good response in many parts of the state. Rait Sena members had also staged a protest in front of the state BJP office for several days that year, after the then Opposition leader B S Yediyurappa and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had exchanged letters for an 'amicable solution' to implement the project, which made little headway. The Kalasa-Banduri project, first proposed four decades ago, is expected to benefit four districts - Belagavi, Bagalkot, Gadag and Dharwad - provided Karnataka makes good use of its share of water allocated by the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal. Back in December 2022, months ahead of the Assembly polls, CM Basavaraj Bommai had announced that the project would be implemented at the earliest. In February this year, the Karnataka government announced Rs 1,000 cr for the project. But the decision to implement the project was challenged by the Goa government in the Supreme Court soon after. Hanumanth Madiwalar, general secretary of the Rait Sena, asks whether the government had any intention at all of implementing the project as tenders for it were floated on the morning of the day when the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state. "Though they have floated the tender, there are technical problems. The state government said the Jal Shakti Ministry had given permission, but this is apparently not enough. Clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is still pending," he said. Basavarajappa, a farmer from the town, accuses politicians of using the Mahadayi issue as a platform to launch themselves into politics. "Back in 2003, Basavaraj Bommai, who is now chief minister, had led a 200-km padayatra for the implementation of the project. Sitting MLA from Nargund and PWD minister C C Patil was also part of it. Despite the two at the helm of affairs in the state for a couple of years now, the project is nowhere near complete," he said. Another farmer, Rudranna, recalled that Bommai had written a letter in blood after he took out a padayatra in 2003 vowing to ensure the project is implemented. "Leaders come and go, but our demands remain unfulfilled," he said. Since 1983, B R Yavagal, who is the Congress candidate, has represented the constituency five times - most recently in 2013. Minister C C Patil has been elected thrice. This election too is considered a two-way fight between the two, even though Rait Sena members insist it will be a triangular contest. In 2018, Patil had defeated Yavagal by a margin of around 11,900 votes. In 2013, Patil lost by around 8,500 votes against Yavagal. At a recent rally in Nargund, Bommai recalled his contribution towards the Mahadayi project and accused the Congress of stalling it in the past. "The Narendra Modi government has notified the project. DPR is also approved. We have uploaded the tender (for implementing Kalasa-Banduri). It (implementation) is stopped only since Model Code of Conduct is in force. As soon as it is lifted, we will complete the tender process and start work," he added.
