BJP-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had propagated the idea of interlinking of rivers to deal with the problem of drought and different parts of the country at the same time.
The Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said in 2009 that the entire idea of interlinking of rivers was dangerous and that he was opposed to interlinking of rivers as it would have "severe" environmental implications. Jairam Ramesh, a cabinet minister in former UPA government, said the idea of interlinking India's rivers was a "disaster", putting a question mark on the future of the ambitious project.
Karunanidhi, whose DMK has been a key ally of the Congress-led UPA at the centre, wrote that linking rivers at the national level perhaps is the only permanent solution to the water scarcity problem in the country. Karunanidhi said the government should make an assessment of the project's feasibility starting with the south-bound rivers. DMK for 2014 general elections added Nationalisation and inter-linking of rivers to its manifesto.
Kalpasar Project is an irrigation project which envisages storing Narmada River water in an offshore freshwater reservoir located in Gulf of Khambhat sea for further pumping to arid Sourashtra region for irrigation use.