Kalasa-Banduri agitation: Karnataka bandh on Jan 25; Bengaluru bandh on Feb 4

The federation of pro-Kannada organisations have decided to call a Karnataka bandh on January 25, and a Bengaluru bandh on February 4.

Their demand is that PM Modi must intervene and resolve the Kalasa-Banduri and Mahadayi river issues.The meeting was chaired by Vatala Paksha President Vatal Nagaraj.Though it was a press conference called by Vatal Nagaraj, it was hijacked by the Kalasa-Banduri Horata Samanvaya Samithi who demanded Vatal to postpone the Karnataka bandh to February 4, the day when Prime Minister Modi is in Bengaluru to address a Parivartana yatra rally. However, Vatal disagreed to this at first as they had made arrangements to hold Karnataka bandh on January 25, and rescheduling the same would be difficult.

"Hubballi-Dharwad has already seen two bundhs in the last one month, bandhs have lost their impact and are ineffective. Calling another bundh would only mean more disruption to normal life," the samithi members argued. Sources also informed DH that the samithi members were angry with the 'South Karnataka' pro-Kannada organisations as they had fixed January 25 as bundh day after receiving an 'approval' from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Vatal said that the January 25 bandh would be complete as they will not allow government offices, schools, colleges, buses and petrol bunks to function. More than 2,300 organisations have shown support for the bandh, he claimed.

And on February 4, they will make sure that; "The Prime Minister does not even get a glass of water," he claimed.The protesters claimed that their protest is not directed towards any single political party, and they would protest, by waving black flags, at Hosapete, where AICC Chief Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to hold a rally.The protesters want Rahul Gandhi to commit himself to convincing Goa Congress leaders to not oppose the Kalasa-Banduri project.