Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday inaugurated the Sigandur bridge in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, which is now the second-longest cable-stayed bridge in the country. As per officials, the bridge has been built across the Sharavathi backwaters between Ambaragodlu and Kalasavalli in Sagara taluk for Rs 472 crore.

The bridge aims to reduce travel time from Sagara town to the nearby villages of Sigandur, which is well known for the Chowdeshwari temple.

This bridge was built following demands from local residents who had lost road connectivity after the Linganmakki dam was built in the 1960s to generate electricity.

For many years, people used small round boats known as coracles to cross the river, but after a tragic incident in which 21 people died when a boat overturned in the backwaters, the demand for a bridge became stronger. Later the Department of Ports and Inland Water Transport introduced ferry services to help people cross.

Over the years, the demand for a permanent bridge kept growing, especially as the number of pilgrims visiting the Chowdeshwari temple in Sigandur continued to increase.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa also attended the inauguration along with Nitin Gadkari.

However, the Congress and the BJP are once again in conflict over the event after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his ministers chose not to attend the function and accused the Union government of not involving the state’s representatives in the ceremony.

Siddaramaiah had requested Gadkari to postpone the bridge inauguration and the foundation stone laying ceremony for other infrastructure projects in Sagara taluk on the same day, saying that he had not been informed about the schedule in advance.

The Chief Minister said he had prior commitments in the Indi taluk of Vijayapura district and added that “it would have been proper had the central ministry coordinated with the state government prior to fixing the date of the event.”

An upset Siddaramaiah spoke to reporters and said, “They should invite us, right? Who created this Centre-state tussle? They created it … they should follow protocols. It’s happening in our state.”

He also mentioned that he had asked Gadkari to reschedule the event as he had not been “intimated” about it in advance.

In a letter addressed to the Union Minister, Siddaramaiah said that since he was scheduled to visit Indi taluk in Vijayapura district, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways should have taken the state government into confidence before fixing the date.

“It has come to my notice that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways along with National Highway Authority of India is organising ‘Dedication to Nation and Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony’ Programme on 14th of July, 2025 in Nehru Field, Sagara Taluk, Shivamogga District, and my name has also been printed in the draft invitation card. However, I have not been intimated about this programme in advance,” Siddaramaiah wrote.

Giving more details about his schedule, the Chief Minister added, “Therefore, I request you to instruct the department to coordinate with the state government while organising such programmes. Also, I request you to postpone this programme and provide me with a couple of dates convenient to you, so that I would be able to join you in this significant state-level programme.”

Despite the letter, the event went ahead as planned on Monday without the presence of the Chief Minister or any other Congress leader.

Siddaramaiah further said, “I had called Nitin Gadkari and asked him to postpone the programme. He said he would postpone it. But now, bowing to pressure from local BJP leaders, they are going ahead with the event. I have not received any invitation. We always extend cooperation to railway projects — they invite us for those. But here, protocol has been violated. As a mark of protest, none of us is participating in the programme. Congress MLAs from the region, the district minister, and the minister for public works are all staying away. They are deliberately creating a rift between the central and state governments.”

In response to the controversy, the BJP released a copy of a letter signed by Gadkari which invited Siddaramaiah to attend the event. The letter, dated July 12, just two days before the inauguration, stated that the Chief Minister was welcome to join virtually through a video link if he could not attend in person.