Former Karnataka CM and LoP Siddaramaiah  |  Photo Credit: ANI
Bengaluru: In wake of the rising cases of coronavirus infection in the state, the Karnataka Congress on Thursday announced that it has suspended its Mekedatu Padayatra until the COVID-19 situation improves.
Former Karnataka chief minister and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Siddaramaiah has said that the party will resume the Padayatra once the number of COVID cases go down in the state.
“Once the number of COVID cases comes down, we will start the padayatra again from Ramanagara which will continue for seven days,” ANI quoted Siddaramaiah as saying.
The decision was taken during a meeting of senior State Congress leaders that was held in Ramanagara earlier today to discuss the future course of action regarding Mekedatu Padayatra in wake of the cancellation of permission for the padayatra’s final event in Bengaluru and the high court’s observation.
“We are concerned about the health of the people in Karnataka, it is our responsibility to see to it that the COVID doesn’t spread because of our padayatra, despite taking all the necessary measures we had concerns, so we discussed today. We don’t want people to feel that we are responsible for worsening the COVID situation,” Siddaramaiah said after the meeting.
Congress had planned a 10-day ‘padayatra’ in Karnataka demanding speedy implementation of the Mekedatu project by the ruling BJP in the state.
COVID situation in Karnataka
Karnataka had on Wednesday reported 21,390 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 10 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department. The new infections pushed the overall tally to 30,99,519, while the death toll surged to 38,389 as more patients succumbed to the viral disease.
The state has been witnessing a steady surge in cases since the last week of December. Of the new cases, 15,617 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 874 people being discharged and 6 deaths.
The total number of active COVID-19 cases across the state is now 93,099.