The Mahadayi issue has put the political parties in Karnataka in a catch 22 situation. With the Farmers from north Karnataka on warpath , both the BJP and the Congress party are looking at ways to defuse the tension. On tuesday  after their meeting with state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president B.S. Yeddyurappa failed to achieve a breakthrough , the farmers announced that th agitation would continue.

BJP which tried to play the ‘water card’ in the parched regions of north Karnataka, the strategy backfired as protesters raised slogans against Yeddyurappa, and vowed to vote against the BJP in next year’s elections.

Hundreds of protesters, mainly farmers from districts in north Karnataka, have been camping outside the state BJP office after Yeddyurappa claimed to have achieved a major breakthrough in the Mahadayi (also known as Mandovi) river water-sharing issue with Goa.

After being outplayed on a number of issues like a separate flag for Karnataka, a separate religion tag for Lingayats and the imposition of Hindi, the BJP tried to play the sensitive water card in north Karnataka ahead of next year’s elections to gain favour in the northern parts of the state. It maybe rcalled that at an election rally in Hubballi last week, Yeddyurappa read out a letter from Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar in which Parrikar had said that he would not oppose the release of water for drinking purposes on humanitarian grounds. However, after it threatned to rock his seat in Goa , Manohar Parrikar made it clear that the discussion shall be without prejudice to Goa’s rights before the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal.

“We want to end this protest and get some water. They have not valued this protest,” Veeresh Sobradhamath, president of the Karnataka Raitha Sene said on Tuesday. “It’s painful to know that thepoliticans don’t care for us,” he added.

Sobradhamath and a few hundred members of his organization decided to shift their 896-day-long protest from north Karnataka to outside the BJP office after Yeddyurappa’s statement.

The demand for water from Mahadayi , called Mandovi in Goa has been in dispute for a very long time. Keeping in mind, North Karnataka is one of the most arid regions in the country with long dry spells and an acute drinking water shortage the Karnataka government has requested the release of 7.56tmcft of Mahadayi water to supply to 13 towns of Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot and Gadag districts.

The Mahadayi river originates in Karnataka and flows for around 35km in the state. Karnataka wants to build canals to link its tributaries—Kalasa and Banduri—to divert water to the Malaprabha river basin. Goa has opposed this on the ground that it would be harmful to the ecology of the Western Ghats. Incidentally most of the water that flows into Goa gets wasted and flows into the Arabian sea.

Yeddyurappa who finds himself in a fix , blamed Siddaramaiah for the present crisis. “Their main priority is to politicize the issue and create confusion. They are not making any effort towards resolution,” Yeddyurappa said after his talks with farmers failed. He accused the Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress party of trying to ignite passions in both states.

The Goa unit of the Congress party has strongly objected to the letter and any agreement over the Mahadayi with Karnataka. Even members of the BJP in Goa have objected to any water release to Karnataka. Protesters in Karnataka  called for a statewide bandh on Wednesday which had limited impact on normal life.

The farmers however announced that the agitation would continue and hope that the political parties in Karnataka will now look at the issue with much more seriousness. “By bringing the agitation to the doorsteps of the BJP and the Chief minister in Bengaluru the farmers have brought it to a decisive stage. Now it will require a collective political will of all the parties concerned to resolve the long pending issue. Given that kalasa banduri is an issue concerning drinking water needs , Goa and Karnataka should settle the matter amicably.”says Ayesha Khanum a senior Journalist with Doordarshan and a Political analyst.

But given the One-upmanship game being played by all the parties , it looks doubtful that the political parties will want to solve it.