Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of putting off his party’s foot march demanding the implementation of the Mekedatu project even as a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have set in.
Determined to go ahead with the Mekedatu padayatra, a 10-day march starting January 9, Shivakumar held a meeting with party leaders during the day.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister K Sudhakar made an appeal, asking the Congress not to go ahead with the foot march.
“Let the health minister first go to the Centre and recover crores of money they owe to the state. They’re just hyping. Let Sudhakar go to the airport and see how people are being harassed,” Shivakumar said, asserting that the padayatra will take place.
Asked about Covid-19, Shivakumar accused BJP leaders of violating norms. “Our leaders have been issued summons for our 100 Not Out campaign. Why wasn’t the CM or the ministers booked for holding public events? Let them file 100 cases. We’ll go to jail 100 times. We’re fighting for the people as their voice and we won’t go back on that,” Shivakumar said.
Congress working president Saleem Ahmed said the BJP wants to stop the padayatra citing Covid-19 as an excuse. “Let them do whatever they want. We will follow all Covid-19 guidelines for the padayatra,” he said.
The Mekedatu project was first announced in 2013 and it is estimated to cost Rs 9,000 crore. The balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project to regulate the flow of water to Tamil Nadu will be used to generate 400 MW power and utilise 4.75 tmc water for Bengaluru.
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(Published 04 January 2022, 14:53 IST)
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