Eye on polls, Cong plans bus yatra in Karnataka

In a bid to reach out to people and pep up its cadres in the BJP-ruled Karnataka ahead of the coming assembly polls, the Congress is taking out a "bus yatra" in the state from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

In a bid to reach out to people and pep up its cadres in the BJP-ruled Karnataka ahead of the coming assembly polls, the Congress is taking out a "bus yatra" in the state from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

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Union ministers from the state and senior leaders have been directed to take part in the yatra that seeks to highlight the failures of the BJP government.

Congress is plugging all holes to ensure that its cadres and leaders don't play a spoiler in Karnataka as in the case of Punjab where rebels played a major role in the party's defeat. Akali Dal created a history by returning to power in Punjab.

"We don't want Karnataka to go the Punjab way. That was a classic case of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory," a senior functionary said.

The central leadership has sent a strong "unite-or-perish" message to its warring leaders.

To ensure that the message percolates deep down the grassroots level, meetings would be held at in 224 assembly seats from September 21.

"Leaders at booth and district levels will be asked to spell out reasons for differences with their party colleagues," said Madhusudan Mistry, party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs.