Congress To Begin 84-Day Padyatra From Shikaripura
Karnataka will experience another political padyatra next month as the Congress party will launch a statewide campaign, Bharat Jodo 2.0, for 84 Assembly constituencies with 84 days of campaigning. It is planned as a political outreach programme and will focus on Assembly areas where Congress lost in elections. The party said that the padyatra will be a mechanism to connect with people, understand their problems and raise awareness about issues that it wants to highlight.
KPCC president B.K. Hariprasad announced the campaign details at a press conference on Monday. Drawing inspiration from the Bharat Jodo Yatra started by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on September 7, 2022, Hariprasad said the march started from Kanyakumari. The Karnataka part of that campaign started on September 30, 2022, at Gundlupet and continued until October 21. The march covered around 600 kilometres in 11 districts, and Rahul Gandhi and other leaders met people in all the districts and listened to their concerns.
According to Hariprasad, the Congress is now planning to organise a second statewide padyatra to honor the memory of the original Bharat Jodo Yatra. The new campaign will begin on September 30 from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district. The new programme will concentrate on 29 districts rather than on the 11 districts in the previous Karnataka leg of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. The party has identified 84 Assembly constituencies where it will conduct the padyatra.
The Congress leader said the campaign will include public meetings as part of the outreach programme. Public meetings will be held from around 1 pm into the evening during the campaign. The party will use the padyatra to reach voters directly and address issues involving local communities. The campaign will be extended to Assembly constituencies from around October 4-5 after its initial launch at Shikaripura.
Congress To Highlight Local Issues And Election Concerns
The fact that Shikaripura was chosen as a starting point was also outlined in the press conference. Hariprasad said the party has chosen this constituency to point out the failures of the BJP and to get the people’s attention on the Election Commission and democratic institutions. He specifically mentioned the allegations by Congress against BJP leaders and concerns about the Election Commission's functioning. These are political claims made by the Congress and are a part of other political debates in the state.
Some of the Congress leaders will be present at the opening programme. Ministers Madhu Bangarappa, Rudrappa Lamani and Zameer Ahmed Khan, along with other district-level leaders such as B.L. Shankar and others, are expected to take part in the padyatra from Shikaripura. Former MLC Narayana Swamy and KPCC Media & Communications Department head Ramesh Babu were present at the press conference where the programme was announced.
The Congress has described the initiative as an extension of the political outreach associated with the Bharat Jodo campaign. The original Bharat Jodo Yatra became a major nationwide political programme in 2022-23, with Rahul Gandhi travelling across various states and interacting with citizens. Karnataka was one of the key states covered during that journey.
The Karnataka Congress is preparing for an extensive grassroots campaign with the new 84-day and 84-constituency padyatra. The focus on districts where the party was defeated will put the election campaign in the front line of local politics. As the programme goes on, Congress leaders are to speak to different parts of Karnataka, meet residents and engage with them at public meetings.
The announcement comes as political parties in Karnataka are increasingly using direct public outreach programmes to strengthen their organisational presence and communicate their positions on major state and national issues. Bharat Jodo 2.0's final route and leaders' involvement in each constituency will be closely watched as the campaign gets started.
