BD NarayankarBengaluru, Aug. 10 -- Karnataka's long tradition of padayatra politics, in which former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda has been one of the prominent practitioners, has acquired a new twist with the Bidadi township dispute, as the BJP-JD(S) combine seeks to turn opposition to the proposed project into a wider campaign over land rights and farmers' interests, putting Chief Minister DK Shivakumar under renewed political pressure.
The Opposition's "Namma Bhoomi, Namma Hakku" (Our land, our right) campaign carries an unmistakable political echo of the Congress party's 2022 Mekedatu mobilisation led by Shivakumar, then Karnataka Congress president, under the slogan "Namma Neeru, Namma Hakku" (Our water, our right).
The Mekedatu march...