In November 2020, ahead of the byelections to Basavakalyan and Maski Assembly constituencies and Belagavi Lok Sabha seat that were scheduled for April 17, 2021, the then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa made a few strategic announcements – the formation of Maratha Development Corporation and Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation. The move was widely seen as an effort to attract Maratha and Lingayat votes, which formed a sizable chunk in Belagavi and Basavakalyan segments.
Laying the foundation stone to the New Anubhava Mantapa at Basavakalyan in January 2021 was his next move to consolidate the dominant Lingayats. The hurriedness he showed in laying the foundation stone had raised many eyebrows. For, there was neither a detailed project report nor was there any budgetary allocation for it. A partial budgetary allocation of ₹200 crore was made later in March 2021.
The plans did work. BJP won both Belagavi and Basavakalyan with impressive margins. The promised New Anubhava Mantapa, however, remained a distant dream. In the past 15 months after laying the foundation stone, the project has seen little progress except for getting ₹200 crore and lands for the project.
“Around 63.14 acres of land, which includes 20 acres of Government land, 21 acres of donated land, and 31 acres of purchased land, is in our possession. Tender process is on. The technical bid is open. We will shortly call for a financial bid after taking the Government’s approval,” Shivkumar Sheelvant, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Bidar and the in-charge Commissioner of Basava Kalyan Development Board (BKDB), the project implementing authority, told The Hindu.
Mr. Bommai, chairing the 7th meeting of BKDB in the presence of Mr. Yediyurappa in Basavakalyan on Saturday, deliberated on the project. Also, his assurances at a public gathering in the town later in the day have triggered new hopes.
The idea of building a New Anubhava Mantapa – a structure to showcase the imaginary Anubhava Mantapa of the 12th Century, which is said to be the world’s first Parliament established in Basavakalyan (then called Kalyana) where Sharanas (poets and socio-spiritual reformers) deliberated on social reforms – was originally mooted in 2016 by the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. A committee with Go. Ru. Channabasappa as its head was also formed to design the project. It gave its project report in September 2017 recommending the development of Mahamane Kshetra on a sprawling 25-30 acre plot on the bank of Tripurantara lake in Basavakalyan at a cost of ₹600.44 crore.
With the change in Government after the Assembly elections in May 2018, the project remained in cold storage during the H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.S. Yediyurappa Governments till January 2021. With Mr. Yediyurappa losing power in July 2021, two months after the byelection results were announced, the project was again pushed to a backseat in the Basavaraj Bommai regime.
