BENGALURU: The Opposition Congress might have succeeded in putting the Mekedatu balancing reservoir project on the centre-stage of political discussion and managed to generate enthusiasm among workers as well as display unity among the top leaders, but the timing proved to be tricky for the party that had to suspend its padayatra abruptly due to the Covid-19 situation.The protest march drew a groundswell of support in parts of Old Mysuru region, but the Congress faced the risk of being branded as the party responsible for the recent Covid surge.
After the party did fairly well in the recent bypolls to Assembly seats, MLC polls from local bodies’ constituencies and urban local bodies, the Congress was keen to keep up the momentum and generate an election mood among its workers. The cases had started spiking much before the padayatra kicked off. But Congress was in no mood to defer it despite the surge in Covid numbers.
Highlighting the dilemma faced by the party, a senior Congress leader explained that they decided to go ahead with the padayatra because in case of its postponement, it would have been difficult to do it in summer or the rainy season. Also, they did not want to take out such a padayatra close to the Assembly elections in early 2023. They were also concerned about the BJP-led government preempting the Congress initiative on implementing the project by taking its own initiative towards the project.
Some Congress leaders admitted that they did not expect such a massive surge in Covid cases and were hoping to complete the padayatra much before the then expected surge in February. However, there were indications of a surge in Karnataka in cases and the Congress central leaders had cancelled rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. On January 8, a day before the padayatra was launched, Karnataka had reported 8,906 cases and on January 13, it went up to a whopping 25,005 cases.
Senior Congress leader BL Shankar said although they stopped the padayatra due to Covid cases, it was a moral victory for the party. “It was not completed due to an increase in Covid cases, but the purpose for which the padayatra was started was almost achieved. Now, everyone is discussing it and all three parties have made their stand clear and expressed their commitment,” he told TNIE.
Apart from being a morale booster, it displayed Congress’ ability to take up and sustain big agitations. It also attempted to show that in the Old Mysuru region (where Mekedatu is located) the fight is between the Congress and the BJP, and not Janata Dal (Secular), which is a force to reckon with in the Vokkaliga heartland.However, while the state government, after being pulled up by the High Court, showed some
determination in stopping the padayatra, Congress was worried about public perception of its padayatra being a Covid super-spreader going against it - negating whatever political gains it brought.