Congress Padayathra against abrupt stoppage of highway work begins  

Puttur: District in-charge minister U T Khader flagged off the 42 kilometer long padayathra by the Congress leaders, led by former minister Ramanath Rai against the abrupt stoppage of highway road work between Bengaluru and Mangaluru at Nelyadi near here on Monday, January 14.

‘Rastriya Heddari Poornagolisi, Janara Jeeva Ulisi’ (Complete National Highway and save lives) is the name of the protest Padayathra.

Mr Khader addressed the gathered protestors and said, “The central government has utterly failed in the development and are trying to hide the scams. If they are courageous enough, they should set up joint parliamentary committee on Rafale scam. Our motive is to form a central government led by Rahul Gandhi. In the upcoming election, we will select a capable congress MP from the district and change the vision of the district.”

Speaking on the occasion, former minister Ramanath Rai said, “BJP is fooling people in the name of God and is trying to cheat people who have faith in God. I have visited Shabarimala 18 times by doing vrutha and in the matter of Shabarimala BJP people are fooling people.”

“Modi led central government is working as puppets of Ambani, Adani and other corporate sectors. When U S Mallya was the MP there were several developments and schemes that benefitted the district. But in the past 30 years, in this Lok Sabha constituency, development is completely neglected. The development work of national highway that was started under UPA government is sidelined completely now,” he pointed out.

The Padayatra is expected to culminate at B C Road on January 16.