Condemning the government’s move to prohibit movement of vehicles and people to prevent the padayatra, and filing of FIRs, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah on Thursday accused the Government of being unfair.
“Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, BJP leaders Subash Guttedar and M.P. Renukacharya have all attended public functions that attracted thousands. Though no action was taken against them, the Government wanted to stall our padayatra and lodge FIRs. The BJP is responsible for the rising numbers,” he told reporters while announcing suspension of padayatra temporarily.
Stating that the Congress cannot be blamed for increasing COVID-19 cases in the State, he said that the rising cases reflect the trend in the third wave witnessed worldwide.
“We are a responsible party and we are concerned about the health of people. Padayatra should not lead to a surge in the numbers. We are not scared of action by the government. We decided to temporarily halt padayatra in the interest of the public,” he added.
Insisting that the Congress is committed to the water issues of the State, KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said: “We are suspending the padayatra to honour the feeling of people and the observations of the court. Though initially we thought that only two of us would walk, people joined. Big groups are getting formed.”
He said that the party will not be cowed down by threats of notices, cases and jail.
