Old promises still dominate poll scene in Chitradurga

The poll promises made a decade ago, continue to dominate the electoral discourse for the upcoming general elections in this dry district.

Upper Bhadra Project, billed as a source of irrigation for Chitradurga district, often crops up as an issue during the Assembly as well as Lok Sabha elections. So is the Davangere-Chitradurga-Tumakuru direct rail route. However, that both projects still remain a mirage speak volumes about lack of political will on the part of elected representatives.

Chitradurga district records an annual rainfall of 534 meters and had faced drought for most of the years in the last century. The district has 5.72 lakh hectares of arable land and agriculture is the main occupation here. However, with rain playing truant and almost disappearing for years, farmers have been at the receiving end. As such, the farming community has been looking at Upper Bhadra Project as the only ray of hope to tackle vagaries of rain-dependent farming. The situation is no different in Sira and Pavagad of Tumakuru district, which come under Chitradurga Lok Sabha constituency.

Irrigation project for Chitradurga district has a long and chequered history dating back to the times of S Nijalingappa, the former chief minister and the first Lok Sabha member from this constituency. However, it acquired clarity and took the shape of Upper Bhadra Project (UBP) only in 1990s. The project has been referred to in all the elections since then.

After a long struggle, administrative approval was granted for the Rs 2,813-crore UBP in 2003. The size of the project went up to Rs 4,150 crore in 2006 and the work was entrusted to Neeravari Nigama. The project size was again revised in 2009 and 2012. However, irrigation still remains a pipe dream for farmers.

This time, the BJP is going to the town claiming that it would grant "National Project" status to UBP while the Congress is seeking votes on the ground that it has "implemented" the project.

Similarly, Davangere-Chitradurga-Tumakuru direct rail line is on the back burner, nine years after its official declaration. The project, if implemented, will reduce the track distance between Bengaluru and Davangere. However, even land acquisition has not been set in motion for this project.

As is the practice, the long-awaited project is mired in political accusations. While the BJP, which had its government at the Centre, is blaming the state for not taking up land acquisition, the Congress has been complaining that the BJP had erred while entering into a pact for this project.

Congressman B N Chandrappa is seeking re-election as a coalition candidate while BJP has fielded A Narayanaswamy from Chitradurga constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes. JD(S) had no strong contestant here. Chandrappa is billed as a 'well-mannered' person. But, he faces the charge of not taking up any visible development work in the past five years. Narayanaswamy, on his part, enjoys the support of five BJP legislators in the district.

Congress and JD(S) have strong presence in Sira and Pavagada Assembly constituencies. However, both the contestants belong to Left Hand community and this may result in division of votes. The electorate in this constituency has always voted against the incumbent in the elections held between 1999 and 2014.