Bengaluru: The Congress has selected Belagavi to launch its protest against the state and Union governments’ failure to come to the rescue of flood victims in north Karnataka with a twin purpose – it can have BJP on the back foot both at the state and national level and also rein in disqualified Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi who played a lead role in pulling down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
In fact, there was pressure on state Congress leaders to hold the massive rally in Bengaluru by organising thousands of party workers. But CLP leader and former CM Siddaramaiah insisted on holding it in Belagavi on September 24 to prepare the ground for the defeat of disqualified MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Mahesh Kumatalli (Athani) and Srimant Patil (Kagawad), if bypolls are held.
Besides, the Congress did not want to invite wrath of Bengalureans since the protest has been planned on a week-day and there is every possibility of creating traffic chaos mostly in the heart of the city. Another reason for choosing Belagavi was to enable Siddaramaiah to exhibit his show of strength even in the Mumbai-Karnataka region as he is keen on regaining the post of opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly. In fact it was his padayatra from Bengaluru to Ballari which helped the Congress come back to power in 2013.
