Mekedatu Padayatra: Basavaraj Bommai urges Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar to call off march

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Thursday left for day 5 of the party's 10-day Mekedatu padayatra, a day after the state government, pulled up by the high court, ordered an immediate ban on the opposition party's protest march.

"Day 5 of #Mekedatu Padyatra begins- with prayers and seeking blessings to win this historic fight. #NammaNeeruNammaHakku (our water, our right)," tweeted Shivakumar in Kannada and English.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai has urged LoP Siddaramaiah and State Congress chief DK Shivakumar to call off Mekedatu Padayatra in view of rising COVID cases.

Earlier, FIRs have been registered against nearly 30 of its leaders and others for taking part in it, defying COVID-19 curbs. Cases have been registered for violation of COVID rules and prohibitory orders, under the Disaster Management act and sections of IPC.

However, Congress leaders and workers are continuing their march. The government has imposed curfew on weekends and restricted public gatherings to fight the surge in COVID-19 cases, till January 19. It has also prohibited all rallies, dharnas and protests, among others, as part of containment measures.

The government has imposed curfew on weekends and restricted public gatherings to fight the surge in COVID-19 cases, till January 19. It has also prohibited all rallies, dharnas and protests, among others, as part of containment measures.

The 10 days padayatra with the theme 'Namma Neeru Namma Hakku' (Our water, Our right) that began at Sangama, the confluence of Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers at Kanakapura in Ramanagara district on Sunday under the leadership of Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, will be spanning a distance of nearly 139 km.

On Wednesday, Karnataka logged 21,390 new cases of the viral illness, while 10 more patients succumbed due to it, a health department bulletin showed. There were 874 recoveries as well, as per the bulletin. With this, the cumulative infection tally stands at 3,099,519 including 38,389 deaths.