To walk or not? Mekedatu triggers a Congress divide

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru, Jan. 6 State Congress leaders are a divided lot over the proposed 175-km long padayatra from Mekedatu to Bengaluru from January 9 following a spurt in Corona and Omicron cases in the last one week.

“I don’t know why KPCC President D.K.Shivakumar is hell-bent on undertaking the padayatra now when the daily positive cases have touched 4,500. Experts have predicted that the daily cases may climb upto10,000 if the rules are not followed strictly. Let four or five important leaders march from Mekedatu instead of taking thousands of people with them”, a senior Congress leader told News Trail on the condition of anonymity.

The leader asserted that it was not the right time to hold such a big event when the pandemic was affecting more and more people in the state. A majority of cases are reported from Bengaluru City and the cases are slowly increasing even in rural areas. Both Shivakumar and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah had tested Corona positive last year during the second wave of Covid-19. Since both of them have comorbidities it was not advisable for them to lead the padayatra as workers from different parts of the state would participate.

“Every worker will like to accompany their leaders and take selfies with them. What if the virus affects a large number of party workers? Why allow the BJP government to blame our party for the outbreak in the state?’’ he said. The Congress party has already canceled rallies in pollbound Uttar Pradesh in view of a sudden increase in Covid cases. The BJP has followed suit in that state. In these circumstances, going ahead with the padayatra is nothing less than risking the lives of hundreds of party workers. It may be a matter of prestige for Shivakumar to emerge as an undisputed Vokkaliga leader in the Congress but what about the health of scores of party workers, he asked.

It is learnt that a few leaders have requested the PCC President to reconsider his decision on the padayatra in view of the current situation but he does not want to postpone it at any cost and has even said he will walk alone if others are not ready to accompany him. So, the leaders have no option but to stick to the earlier decision of going ahead with the padayatra.