The three-day padayatra by former Minister B. Ramanath Rai demanding early completion of the four-laning of NH 75, between Hassan and B.C. Road, is being turned, in all likelihood, into a poll issue for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
While Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister U.T. Khader will flag off the padayatra at 9 a.m. at Nellyadi on January 14, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao will join the walk on its last leg, January 16, said Mr. Rai.
He told reporters here on Saturday that the proposed walk from January 14 to 16 will be held as scheduled.
As soon as Mr. Rai had announced the padayatra last week, Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP, prevailed upon Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari to hasten the project. Mr. Gadkari, in turn, directed NHAI to address the issue immediately.
Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Rai alleged that that the MP was been telling lies and was unable to ensure that the projects got completed as scheduled.
The contractor for the 65 km four-laning work between Addahole and B.C. Road, Larsen and Tubro, has backed out from the work citing non-availability of land and non-payment of contract money.
On the other hand, work between Hassan and Maranahalli has stopped following the contractor going bankrupt. The Union government is to be blamed squarely for the mess, Mr. Rai alleged.
The former Minister said many Congress workers and members of the public will accompany him.
Public meetings have been organised on all the three days, at Nellyadi, Uppinangady, Mani, and B.C. Road, he said.
The party has planned so its leaders will join the padayatra in batches on each day with Hassan district Congress president Manjunath, MLC Gopalaswamy, former MLA Shakuntala Shetty and others joining on the first day.
During the public meeting at Uppinangady on the same evening, former MLAs Vasanth Bangera, H.M. Vishwanath, J.R. Lobo and others would participate, Mr. Rai said.
Several other leaders, including Ivan D'Souza, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Abhayachandra Jain, Arun Machaiah and others, will participate in subsequent days.
Mr. Rai said he is physically fit to traverse the 42-km stretch by foot in three days.
