: BJP attempting to foil Congress Party’s Mekedatu Padayatra: KPCC President #IndiaNEWS #News CM using lockdown threat to thwart padayatra from Jan. 9 Mysore/Mysuru: Accusing the ruling BJP Government

BJP attempting to foil Congress Party’s Mekedatu Padayatra: KPCC President #IndiaNEWS #News
CM using lockdown threat to thwart padayatra from Jan. 9

Mysore/Mysuru: Accusing the ruling BJP Government of making all possible attempts to thwart the Congress Party’s Mekedatu Padayatra that is scheduled to start on Jan. 9, KPCC President D. K. Shivakumar alleged that the Government was using COVID lockdown threat to stall the padayatra, fearing its success.

Addressing a joint press meet along with Opposition Leader Siddharamaiah at Patrakartara Bhavan here this morning, Shivakumar slammed Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for saying that Bengaluru is likely to be declared as a Red Zone in the wake of rising COVID cases.

No Red Zone

Arguing that no lockdown nor declaration of Red Zone is necessary for containing the virus at this stage in Karnataka, the KPCC President thundered that the padayatra would go on as scheduled come what may. He further said that the CM was scared of the huge public response that the Congress is getting for the padayatra.

Charging the BJP Governments utter failure in governance, Shivakumar claimed that he was alerted by some on the BJPs plans and ploys to foil the padayatra.

Reiterating that the 10-day padayatra (Jan. 9 to 19) would go on as scheduled with all COVID appropriate behaviour in place, he said that the Congress will keep one lakh face masks, sanitisers etc. , for use by parti-cipants.

100 doctors to be deployed

Noting that more than a hundred doctors and paramedical staff from the party’s Medical Cell will be deployed during the padayatra, he said that shelters for party workers and others will be set up at necessary points all along 160 km-long padayatra.

Hitting out at BJP for calling the padayatra as a political gimmick, Shivakumar said that one must remember that the DPR for the project was prepared when Siddharamaiah was the Chief Minister. Highlighting the benefits of Medkedatu Water Project, he accused the Centre of stalling the project for the sake of Tamil Nadu. Urging the Centre to give environmental clearance for the project at the earliest, he alleged that the BJP leaders had failed in protecting the interests of the people of Karnataka.

Feasibility report

Opposition Leader and former CM Siddharamaiah too came down heavily on the BJP Government for making clandestine efforts to block the padayatra in the name of pandemic.

Recalling that he as Chief Minister in Oct. 2013, had submitted a feasibility report on Mekedatu Project to the Centre, he said that later on another DPR was prepared and forwarded to the Central Water Commission (CWC), when the BJP Government headed by Narendra Modi came to power.

Subsequently, the CWC sent it back seeking certain clarifications on several salient features of the project.