Congress power show in Bellary

The Congress had to wait at least ten years to put up a show like the way they did in Bellary today. Having lost nine years in a row to the BJP in this high profile Bellary which is the mining district, the Congress leaders concluded their padayatra which lasted 16 days and 300 kilomtres on Monday.

We have accepted and won the challenge, the Congress leaders who were dared by the Reddy brothers to step into home turf said on reaching Bellary. Bellary was quite a sight on Monday. Almost every resident of Bellary barring the Reddy brothers were present on home turf to witness this event. The Congress wore a picture of unity with Union Ministers, S M Krishna, Mallikarjuna Kharge, Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi Azad and K H Muniyappa joining the state leaders who reached in the afternoon.

All the leaders of the Congress were unanimous in their demand. They said that there is no other option but to hand over the investigation into the illegal mining scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation. They said that their entire idea of going on a padayatra was to highlight the misdoings of the BJP government in Karnataka.

Ghulam Nabi Azad reminded the people that the union government was not weak and added that it would act on this issue. He said that it was high time that the state government in Karnataka too acted and took action against those guilty.

Siddaramaiah, the opposition leader was the crowd favourite. While demanding a CBI probe into illegal mining, he challenged the Reddys to come clean in public. How have you people earned so much money in the past six years? Let us compare what you used to earn in 2004 and what you earn now. Make your income tax filings public and let us see what you have to say to the public? If you call yourself as a representative of the public then tell the public what you own and what you earn.

The Congress leaders said that this was not the end of their fight. We have slept in the assembly and then we have taken this yatra out. Our fight does not stop here and will end only once a CBI probe is instituted into this multi crore scam. They also felt that the only way to save the state is to change the government which has failed the people miserably.

According to the police there were over 15000 people who had come to witness the event. The turf of the Reddys was dominated by the Congress supporters today. The Reddys were however away on their own yatra to prove their innocence. They had said earlier that this is a democracy and they would not obstruct anyone who enters their turf. They however challenged the Congress to win one single seat from Bellary.

The Congress leaders who marched into Bellary were seen sporting Gandhi caps and were holding the tri-colour. Lookking tired and tanned after walking for 16 days, they reached the iron ore rich district forming a seven kilometer long human chain.

The police who were around 5000 in number were all assembled around the district stadium in Bellary. Security was tight and the entire event was monitored through close circuit televisions.

Images: Jagadish Kurugodu