Take my bed away

On the eve of their big protest rally, lack of accommodation forced thousands of congressmen to sleep in their cars in the BJP stronghold

On the eve of their big protest rally, lack of accommodation forced thousands of congressmen to sleep in their cars in the BJP stronghold

The 320-km padayatra by the Congress to Bellary is finally coming to an end today, albeit, with a twist.

The reason? Due to a total lack of accommodation, party workers, who came in thousands to mark the end of the walkathon, spent last night sleeping in their vehicles.

For the same reason, party workers will be driving back Congress leaders to the city as soon as the rally gets over.

All leaders are instructed to leave for Bangalore immediately after the function, as a safety measure.

The 15-day Congress padayatra protesting illegal mining in the state entered its last leg when party workers, led by Siddaramaiah, leader of the Opposition in the assembly, reached Bellary last evening.

A mammoth rally, in which an estimated 3 lakh supporters will participate, will be held at the District Stadium today.

The greatest challenge faced by the organisers yesterday was to find accommodation for party supporters who kept pouring in until midnight.

While food and accommodation was arranged for 1,500 people, including leaders, at Veerabhadreswara Mutt in Hulakundi at the outskirts of Bellary, supporters were asked to stay in their vehicles for the night.

"Hotels in Bellary can accommodate 1,500 people, but all the rooms were already booked. Possible spaces like private schools and marriage halls were not enough to house our men and women.

So we had to ask them to use their vehicles for the night," said Diwakara Babu, district Congress president and rally in-charge.

While 4,000 vehicles including SUVs and maxi cabs arrived in Bellary last night, another 5,000 buses were expected to reach this morning.

"The rally is expected to end at 7 pm and all leaders have beenu00a0 instructed to leave for Bangalore immediately after that," said B S Shivanna, a close aide to Siddaramaiah.

One of the main reasons for deciding not to stay in Bellary is the grim law and order situation.

The Congress leaders had embarked upon the padayatra after the Reddy brothers had challenged them to come to Bellary and health minister B Sriramulu had also warned them of dire consequences.

"The leaders are also in a hurry to go back home because it has been 15 days since they have been away from their families.
u00a0
In any case, we don't want to take chances and have asked the leaders to return immediately after the function," added Siddaramaiah.

With concern looming large over law and order violations, the police have also made all possible arrangements to ensure peace.

About 18 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and 10 platoons of District Armed Reserved Police are deployed while the top brass is keeping a close eye on the situation.

Sunday special
SiddaramAiah, who is spearheading the walkathon and the rally in Bellary, stayed in a villager's house in Hulakundi last night. A fellow Kuruba, he bowed to the pressure of the shepherd community that is dominant in the village.

Rs 3 crore
A party worker estimated the cost of the walkathon and the rally at Rs 3 crore. S Venkateswar, secretary, state Congress, said, "The total event has only been successful because of the mobilisation skills of the party leaders, especially KPCC president R V Deshpande."