Mekedatu Padayatra cancelled: The decision to suspend the 10-day padyatra (march) was taken following a meeting at the Ramanagara party office. It was attended by senior leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar among others.
Bengaluru: In the wake of rising coronavirus cases, the Congress party has decided to suspend its ‘Mekadatu Padyatra’. The development comes after several ministers including former Union Minister Veerappa Moily, senior Congress leader Mallajamma and former minister and Congress MLA Shivashankara Reddy who participated in the ‘padayatra’ turned Covid positive.
The decision to suspend the 10-day padyatra (march) was taken following a meeting at the Ramanagara party office. It was attended by senior leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar among others.
For the unversed, the Congress has planned a 10-day ‘padayatra’ in the state demanding speedy implementation of Mekedatu project by the ruling BJP in the state. The ‘padayatra’ has entered fifth day despite curfew orders amid surge in Covid cases in the state.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had said that Mekedatu ‘padayatra ‘won’t be allowed any further and directions have been issued in this regard to district Commissioner and police department. “They won’t be allowed to move a step forward. If they don’t stop the padayatra, we will do what is required to stop it,” he had said.
“There is a High Court order in this regard and the number of Corona cases in the state have reached 21,000 from 11,000. The numbers are doubling daily. Poor, street vendors, autos cab drivers who depend on everyday earnings for livelihood have panicked”, he explained, adding that thousands of people are Corona positive and still taking part in ‘padayatra’. This is not padayatra on Mekedatu, this is ‘padayatra of Corona’.
