Signs of Revival in Karnataka

Heads up, chest high. That’s how the Congress in Karnataka is feeling after organising a successful padayatra to counter the powerful Reddy brothers’ hold over Karnataka’s politics and mining business.

Heads up, chest high. That’s how the Congress in Karnataka is feeling after organising a successful padayatra to counter the powerful Reddy brothers’ hold over Karnataka’s politics and mining business. The 300 km Bangalore-Bellary walkathon has rekindled grassroot interest and showed signs that the party’s traditional vote bank of backward classes, minorities, SCs and STs—which it had alienated—was not averse to returning. There was enviable unity among senior leaders as they marched to take on the Reddys on their own turf, an invitation the powerless veterans grabbed after being challenged on the Assembly floor. And the rousing reception was testimony that the Congress was in revival mode. 

It was the miracle that the grand old party here, filled with inductees from the erstwhile Janata Dal, was waiting for. During the padayatra, as crowds collected, internal politics was forgotten and the pace quickened. Even critics in the opposition were surprised to see ordinary folk marching along with the leaders.

To counter this applause, B Sriramulu, Karnataka’s health minister and a Reddy camp follower, rallied from Bellary to Mysore. But the response to that was less dramatic, even forgetful. There’s cheer in the Congress camp now, four long years after the JD-S walked into the BJP camp. Finally, there are some positive vibes for Congressmen, who have had a streak of lost elections—Assembly polls in May 2008, Zila Parishad polls, and recently, Bangalore’s civic polls. Clearly, it’s time for the party to seize the moment.

CongressKarnatakapadayatra