BENGALURU/MYSURU: Having ignored Covid-19 norms and earning the ire of certain sections of civil society, the Congress may have further fouled up by not appearing before the High Court on Wednesday in a public interest petition on the Mekedatu padayatra issue.
The padayatra, which began on January 9 with much fanfare, seems to have run into foul weather with the High Court rapping both the State Government and the Opposition party. Congress sources said the options before the party were limited since no other major political party had expressed support for the padyatra.
Sources also alleged that KPCC president D K Shivakumar and team, having treated it as a prestige issue, even defying curfew orders on the day the padayatra began, may have taken the PIL lightly. During the preparatory meeting before the padayatra, party leaders had observed that the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus was less lethal and ICU admissions were very negligible as compared to the second wave.
Former Congress legal cell chairman C M Dhananjay told TNIE, “We have received a notice and we will appear before the court on the next hearing on January 14.’’ But he did not explain why the party’s legal counsel was not present in court on Wednesday when the PIL came up for hearing. It was also not clear if it was part of a deliberate strategy or whether the party leadership was caught napping. KPCC working president Ramalinga Reddy simply said, “We will abide by the High Court’s decision.’’
A party source noted that the option of deploying legal heavyweights like Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singvi or Vivek Tankha seems to have not crossed the minds of the state leadership. Meanwhile, KPCC chief D K Shivakumar, Opposition leader in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, and others, who had maintained an aggressive posture over the last three days, seemed mellowed down on the fourth day of the padayatra after the High Court rap.
Siddaramaiah and others held discussion with the legal cell chief Ponnanna and others regarding the questions raised by the Court. The Congress has decided to cite public cause for taking out the padayatra, while highlighting the precautionary measures, positivity rate in Ramanagara district and other aspects to convince the court that they have adhered to Covid norms.
Sources said the party leaders have decided to follow the High Court directives as they felt that going against it may turn counterproductive for the party. A few others, requesting anonymity, feared that the party may be blamed for the rise in positivity rate to project it as a villain in the eyes of the people. KPCC working president R Druvanarayana said the legal cell team held discussion with the state party chief and opposition leader in connection with the PIL and also on reply to be filed to the high court. He maintained that they have taken steps to follow Covid guidelines during the padayatra.