Amit Shah's visit to Karnataka will come amid the BJP and Congress' squabble over the Mahadayi water row.
After victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, BJP chief Amit Shah will visit Karnataka on December 31 to review the party's organisation and strategy in the Congress-ruled state which will hold assembly polls in the first half of next year. Mr Shah is expected to hold a meeting of legislators and MPs and of party's core committee in Karnataka, news agency IANS reported.
The visit comes as the BJP's Karnataka unit and the ruling Congress trade charges over
getting Mahadayi River water from neighbouring Goa to the four drought-hit districts in the state's northern region. Goa is ruled by the BJP.
The 77 km-long Mahadayi or Mandovi River originates at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in Belagavi district of north-west Karnataka and flows into the neighbouring Goa and eventually joins the Arabian Sea.
Karnataka has been asking Goa since 2001 to release 7.6 thousand million cubic feet of the river water to meet the drinking needs of its people in Hubballi-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkote and Belagavi districts and irrigating their farmlands.
Last week, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Goa was
ready to share a "reasonable" amount of water with Karnataka for its drinking water needs after BJP Karnataka chief BS Yeddyurappa wrote to him asking for help.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, took offence to Mr Parrikar responding to Mr Yeddyurappa and not the chief minister of the state, fanning the fight between the Congress and the BJP.
Karnataka is one of the few states ruled by Congress and the BJP is making efforts to wrest it out of the party's control.
(With inputs from IANS)