As the sun sets on 2023, Karnataka’s year in review

As New Year 2024 dawns, The Hindu’s Karnataka reporters look back at the year that was through the Rewind 2023 series

The year 2023, that draws to a close on December 31, was marked by a change in political guard in Karnataka with a keenly contested Assembly election bringing Congress to power. It also saw the ushering in of five “guarantee” schemes, including free bus travel for women, even as the State suffered a huge deficit in rainfall with 223 out of 236 taluks being declared drought-hit. As always, it resurrected the Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

On a positive note, Bengaluru-based ISRO succeeded in its moon mission Chandrayaan-3 this year, while the city with its notorious traffic jams had some reason to cheer with the much-awaited Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway opening and the entire stretch of Metro Purple line becoming operational.