Bengaluru, 28 September

The Congress in Karnataka will undertake a second 'Bharat Jodo' foot march across all 84 Assembly constituencies where the party lost in 2023 elections, beginning September 30 from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district, state unit president B K Hariprasad said on Monday.

The foot march, planned to commemorate the entry of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra into Karnataka in 2022, will cover 29 districts and is expected to continue for 84 days, Hariprasad said.

“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,” he told reporters.

Hariprasad said the march would begin at one pm and conclude each day with a public meeting. The Congress has decided to hold the march in all 84 constituencies where it lost in 2023, while covering 29 districts apart from the 11 districts through which Rahul Gandhi had marched during the original Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The first march will be held in Shikaripura on September 30, with ministers and Congress workers from Shivamogga district expected to participate. Among those named by Hariprasad were Zameer Ahmed Khan, B L Shankar and Madhu Bangarappa.

“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,” he said.

Asked why Shikaripura was chosen as the starting point, Hariprasad said the march would also highlight what he described as shortcomings in the BJP's programmes.

“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.

Shikaripura in Shivamogga district is a BJP bastion, which is currently represented in the Assembly by the BJP state president B Y Vijayendra.

Prior to him, his father and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa was MLA from there.

Vijayendra's elder brother B Y Raghavendra is Shivamogga MP.

Hariprasad also said the programme would seek to create awareness about the functioning of constitutional institutions, alleging that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar was causing damage to them.

He said if required some districts could be covered twice.

The Congress state chief said the concluding programme would be held after all the constituencies were covered, but did not provide details about its venue or participation of senior Congress leaders from the party's central leadership.