The city is going through one of its worst drinking water crisis in recent years, but the issue seems to have found little resonance in the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, though it is a small part of the rhetoric deployed by both the national parties.
“Both the BJP and the Congress candidates are being questioned on the gaps in infrastructure in our area, as each of these parties are in power in Delhi and Karnataka, respectively. The water crisis and the 2022 floods are part of this larger narrative. However, these are local issues that rarely resonate in a national election,” said Jagadish Reddy, a resident of Varthur - one of the worst hit by the water crisis this summer.
However, water is part of the larger narrative the BJP and the Congress are deploying for the city. For instance, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently attacked the Sate government over the water crisis and a few cases of cholera being reported in the city and said this was a result of the State government stopping works on Central projects related to water. R. Ashok, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, has attacked the State government for mismanagement of the water crisis and “surrender to the tanker mafia” and said this had hit “Brand Bengaluru”.
