Karnataka: 41 Congress netas booked after thousands attend padyatra sans COVID compliance

Nearly 41 Karnataka Congress leaders including state party president DK Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh were slapped with FIRs or flouting COVID-19 guidelines during the ongoing Mekedatu Padyatra on Tuesday. This is the second FIR filed in two days against Shivakumar who has been conducting a massive foot march demanding the construction of a reservoir across Cauvery despite a weekend curfew in the state.

The senior Congress leader has been in the eye of a storm after he refused to undergo an RT-PCR test despite reportedly showing coronavirus symptoms. He was also seen risking the lives of children who were packed together without masks at a program with him.

The 10-day-long march - titled 'namma neeru, namma hakku,' or 'our water, our right' - was led by DK Shivakumar along with the Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah. Shivakumar continued the Padyatra on Tuesday, joined by thousands of workers who marched without masks to the sound of drums in Sathnoor. Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, who had been unwell over the past few days, also joined the Padayatra today.

The FIR has been registered at the Sathnoor police station based on the complaint of the tehsildar against the Congress leaders for flouting COVID-19 norms amid a surge in infections. 

Why is Congress protesting in Karnataka? What is Mekedatu Padyatra?

The Sonia Gandhi-led party is demanding the immediate implementation of the Mekedatu project, which entails the construction of a reservoir on the Cauvery river, thereby augmenting water supply to Bengaluru Urban and surrounding districts. The Padyatra, which was flagged off from Sangam in Ramanagara district, will cover 60 Assembly constituencies and shall culminate at a massive rally in Bengaluru on January 19.

Downplaying the third wave of COVID-19 before the commencement of the Padyatra, Shivakumar had said, " There is no Covid. The government has been manipulating the numbers (COVID-19 cases) to create a scare among the public and scuttle our Padyatra. The ruling BJP fears our Padayatra will expose its lack of commitment to addressing the drinking water issues. Isn’t BJP playing politics by imposing a curfew"?

Karnataka on Monday recorded a slight dip in fresh COVID-19 cases at 11,698 and 4 deaths, taking the tally to 30,63,656 and the death toll to 38,374. The state has been witnessing a steady surge in infections since December last week and had reported 12,000 cases on Sunday alone.