Bangalore:
Congress leaders and workers on Sunday started their long walk from Bangalore to Bellary in a bid to put pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the issue of illegal mining.
The 320 kilometre distance will be covered in 16 days and will culminate with a rally in Bellary -- the stronghold of the controversial Reddy brothers. The Reddys are mining millionaires - and also minister in the Karnataka Cabinet.
The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step --- and the Congress in Karnataka hope this padayatra will get them closer to their goals of a CBI inquiry into illegal mining and of giving the Reddy brothers of the BJP a hard time.
"So many thousands of crores scam has taken place. Even then Chief Minister hesitates to take action against those ministers. I feel pity for him that under the influence of these Reddy brothers he is keeping quiet. We are not afraid of any Reddy brothers. With a lot of discipline, we are walking all the way to Bellary. We are not eating biriyani on the way. There will be only vegetarian food," said Roshan Baig, Congress leader and former Home Minister of the state.
The Reddys had hoped to have a padayatra of their own, but this idea was shot down by their party. They are settling for a rally.
Commenting on the padayatra, state's Tourism Minister Janardhan Reddy said, "Whatever the padayatra and rally of Congress, the public are very emotional in Bellary, and I hope that ten times bigger rally where Sushma Swaraj madam is going to address the meeting in Bellary."
All roads lead to the showdown between the Congress and the BJP in Bellary.