Congress plans 1999-like bus tour ahead of polls

The tour could be helmed by KPCC chief D K Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah separately

The Congress flag. Credit: DH File Photo

Close on the heels of the BJP's Jana Sankalpya Yatra, the Karnataka Congress has planned its own poll tour for which party leaders are chalking out details.

Apparently, the Congress' tour could be helmed by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah separately.

This will be akin to its 1999 'Panchjanya Yatra' in which Congress leaders led by then KPCC president S M Krishna travelled in buses, which is said to have helped the party win that year's Assembly election.

Sources said Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are getting their buses ready.

"We are discussing this. We will take a collective decision," Shivakumar told reporters. "There was a meeting fixed in Delhi to discuss this on Tuesday for which I'm unable to go. So, there'll be a meeting on Wednesday where all leaders will finalise the plans," he said, adding that the Congress would "move forward under a collective leadership".

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According to party sources, the plan is to form two teams — one under Shivakumar and the other with Siddaramaiah — to cover all 224 Assembly constituencies where public meetings will be held. "The high command will decide who will be in which team. The tour is likely to start in November," a source said.

On the Bharat Jodo Yatra that concluded its Karnataka leg last week, Shivakumar underplayed the notion that it benefitted him the most. "It has benefitted the entire country, state and people such as farmers, youth, women and so on," he said, adding that over one lakh youngsters walked with former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi at Raichur where the Bharat Jodo Yatra ended in Karnataka on Sunday.

"I feel proud that the Bharat Jodo Yatra took place during my tenure as the state president," Shivakumar said. "There won't be another march like this. Similarly, there won't be another Mekedatu march or a freedom march to mark 75 years of independence," he said.

Asked if party MLAs kept up their end of the bargain during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Shivakumar said he would seek a written report from all of them.