Realising that the closure of Gandak canal could jeopardise its election prospects in eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Mayawati government has lodged a protest with Bihar government saying farmers were being affected because of the closure of this all-important canal of the region. Chief Secretary Anup Kumar Mishra had held a meeting with his Bihar counterpart early this week and demanded that the canal be made operational at the earliest. The Uttar Pradesh government has sought Centre’s intervention to tide over this crisis at the earliest. The western wing of the Gandak canal has been closed till June 2012 in the name of renovation. The closure has affected four districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh—Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Deoria and Kushinagar. Mishra said the closure of the canal had affected 2.25 lakh farmers who failed to sow their Rabi crop in the absence of water. The BSP government can ill afford closure of the canal at this stage when Assembly elections are round the corner. Farmers in these four districts are up in arms against the government and have demanded restoration of water supply at the earliest. The four affected districts have 52 Assembly constituencies, 24 of which are represented by BSP legislators. “The decision to close this canal was taken unilateral. UP was not informed about the closure of the canal from November 4, 2011 to June 30, 2012. And this is the period when Rabi crop is sown and harvested,” Mishra said. Bihar has expressed its inability to restore water flow in the canal because it is being repaired with Central government’s assistance. Even Nepal is also part of this renovation scheme. “If the Government of India allows this project could be temporarily put in abeyance,” Bihar Chief Secretary to Mishra said. Following this, the UP government has written a letter to the Union government and the reply is awaited.