Congress declares slew of protests in next 75 days

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: An All India Cong ress Committee (AICC) meeting held in New Delhi finalized that the party would float five protests in Karnataka in the next 75 days, starting in the last week of December. The first of these demonstrations would be held in Vijayapura on December 30 over the Krishna river water issue.

The second would be on January 2 in Hubballi which would be against the non-implementation of the Mahadayi project. The third would be Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Chitradurga on January 8. The fourth would be 45 to 50-day yatra that aims to cover all district headquarters, to be held in the first and second week of January.

The fifth and final one would be a Backward Class (BC) convention, the date of which has not been disclosed. The meeting was attended by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC general secretary, and the party’s Karnataka incharge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar, former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, KPCC campaign committee chief MB Patil, among others.

Surjewala said that the demonstration would highlight issues of note in the lead-up to the polls. “On the 30th of December, a huge convention cum rally will be held in Bijapur. On January 2, the Mahadayi water is equally important for Hubballi-Dharwad and Gadag area, a huge convention will be held laying down the road map on how Congress will implement the project.

And how the water will actually flow and BJP has faltered at both Central and State government levels. There will be a huge rally and convention on the 2nd of January in Hubballi,” he said. “BJP’s government at the Centre and State in Karnataka has betrayed the SC (Scheduled Caste) and ST (Scheduled Tribe) communities.

On the 8th of January in Chitradurga, there will be a huge congregation, a rally and a convention of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in Chitradurga. Similarly, there will be a Backward Class (BC) convention, the date of which, we will share with you soon enough,” he added.

Lastly, the state Congress seeks to undertake the ambitious project of covering all district headquarters through a yatra in the first two weeks of the new year. “And in the first week of January, we will begin a joint yatra, which will cover all district headquarters and finally all 224 Assembly constituencies of Karnataka within a period of 45 to 50 days, the schedule of which I will be able to share with you in the days to come,” Surjewala said.