In a shrewd move, Govt. holds itself back from scuttling padayatra

State Government did not want to take any action that will give more political mileage to the Congress, besides showing the BJP in a bad light

Sensing that the padayatra of the Congress over the sensitive issue of the Mekedatu project turned out to be politically tricky, the BJP Government changed its strategy and desisted from scuttling the event on Sunday as senior party leaders felt that such a measure would have given more political mileage to the Opposition party besides showing the ruling party in a bad light.

There has been a fight over political optics since the announcement of the padayatra by the Congress, resulting in a tightrope walk for the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP Government.

While the Government’s failure to prevent a massive congregation on Sunday could be scorned at by the common people affected by the stringent weekend curfew measures, any action against Congress leaders could lead to sympathy among the electorate for the Opposition party in the Old Mysore region.