Congress plans 84-day march across lost seats

Karnataka Congress will begin an 84 day foot march on September 30, taking the party through all 84 Assembly constituencies it lost in the 2023 elections, as it expands its political outreach across the state.

The march, which the party has named its second “Bharat Jodo” programme in Karnataka, will start in Shikaripura, the Assembly constituency represented by BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and previously held by his father, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa. The route will cover 29 districts, Karnataka Congress chief B K Hariprasad said on Monday.

The programme is being organised to mark four years since Rahul Gandhi entered Karnataka during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in 2022.

“To commemorate Rahul Gandhi’s entry into Karnataka as part of his Bharat Jodo Padayatra on September 30, 2022, and to celebrate that occasion, we are also undertaking the second Bharat Jodo in Karnataka from September 30,” Hariprasad said.

The opening programme will begin at 1 pm, followed by a public meeting. Congress ministers and party workers from Shivamogga are expected to participate. Hariprasad named Zameer Ahmed Khan, B L Shankar and Madhu Bangarappa among those scheduled to attend.

The wider programme is expected to gather pace from early October, with the party planning events across the constituencies where it was defeated in the 2023 Assembly elections.

“After that, from October 4 or 5 onwards, we have planned a major programme under which we will continuously hold such programmes in all the districts and assembly constituencies where we have lost,” Hariprasad said.

The choice of Shikaripura is intended to give the opening programme a political edge. Hariprasad referred to a previous statement by Vijayendra about undertaking a major foot march during the summer and said the Congress wanted to use the event to present its assessment of BJP programmes to voters.

“The reason for starting from Shikaripura is that the BJP president had said that they would undertake a major foot march during the summer. So, we want to tell the people about the shortcomings, what the BJP is doing and the tragedies and shocks that are occurring because of their programmes,” he said.

Vijayendra currently represents Shikaripura in the Karnataka Assembly. Yediyurappa represented the constituency before him, while Vijayendra’s elder brother B Y Raghavendra is the BJP member of Parliament from Shivamogga.

The Congress also plans to use the foot march to discuss the functioning of constitutional institutions. Hariprasad alleged that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was damaging these institutions, without providing further details in the statement.