Updated on: 30 Jul 2026
BALLARI: Alleging that the Karnataka government has failed to take the drought situation seriously despite widespread crop damage caused by inadequate rainfall, the BJP’s drought study team, led by Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka, staged a protest along with farmers in a pigeon pea field at Karekallu village in Ballari district.
As part of its statewide assessment of drought conditions, the BJP team visited Sidaginamola and Karekallu villages in Ballari district on Thursday to inspect pigeon pea crops that have withered due to the lack of rainfall. The leaders interacted with farmers, gathered information about crop losses and sought details on the prevailing situation from officials.
Speaking during the visit, R. Ashoka said that most districts in Karnataka were facing severe drought conditions. He alleged that crops were drying up due to the absence of rain and farmers were struggling to sustain their livelihoods. Reservoirs were running dry and fields had little or no standing crops, he said, while accusing the State government of ignoring farmers’ hardships and “enjoying itself in Delhi” instead of addressing the crisis.
Ashoka further alleged that no minister or senior government official had visited farmers’ fields to assess the ground reality. Accusing the government of complete negligence, he said he had instructed BJP leaders conducting drought studies across the State to stage protests from within farmers’ fields wherever they visited.
Demanding immediate relief, Ashoka urged the government to announce ₹50,000 compensation per acre for farmers who had suffered total crop loss due to the drought. He also called on officials to immediately conduct crop damage surveys and begin the process of distributing compensation.
The BJP drought study team included MLAs Bhairathi Basavaraj, B.P. Harish, Krishna Naik, former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, and several other party leaders. After completing its inspection in Ballari district, the team proceeded to Vijayanagara district to assess drought conditions there.
Farmers in Ballari district told the BJP delegation that pigeon pea and several other crops were drying up because of insufficient rainfall. They expressed concern that if the government failed to take immediate relief measures, the agricultural sector would face even greater difficulties in the coming days.
Janardhan Reddy Announces Protest Demanding Water Release from Tungabhadra Reservoir
Former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy announced that a protest would be held on Friday by laying siege to the Tungabhadra Command Area Development Authority (CADA) office at Munirabad, demanding the immediate release of water from the Tungabhadra Reservoir for irrigation.
Addressing reporters in Ballari on Thursday, Reddy said the protest would begin with a tractor and motorcycle rally from Anjanadri, followed by a five-kilometre padayatra to the CADA office, where demonstrators would stage a protest.
He alleged that despite the reservoir having adequate water storage, the government had failed to release water for farmers. Reddy claimed that during the BJP government’s tenure, water had been released for irrigation even when the reservoir held only 26 TMC of water, whereas the present government had not released water despite the storage reaching around 36 TMC.
Accusing the State government of failing to respond to the hardships faced by farmers, Reddy said the protest had become necessary to compel the government to provide relief and release water for agricultural purposes.
He said former minister B. Sriramulu, BJP leaders from Koppal district, and a large number of farmers would participate in the protest to pressure the government into releasing water from the Tungabhadra Reservoir.
