On July 25th, just a week after the showdown in the Assembly where unparliamentary, egotistical, arrogant and unbecoming words were hurled by senior leaders, the Congress started a padayatra to force the government to order a CBI probe into illegal mining. But the fact is, more than being disturbed by illegal mining, it was the issue of “hafta”, which the opposition leaders have brought up twice in the press that aggravated the situation.

But what pushed the Congress to go on a padayatra were the words of Tourism Minister Janardhana Reddy — “Come to Bellary, we’ll take care you” — which teased, mocked and bruised the Congress ego.

At this point, Siddharamaiah stood up screaming and lifted his arm patting his biceps, a typical sign that says, “I accept your challenge”— a gesture used in Indian wrestling, not surprising coming from Siddu, a wrestler in his younger days. So ego and the insatiable appetite for publicity laced with a thin hope of bringing down the government seems like the real reasons for this padayatra.

While the Congress is berating BJP for its two years of bad administration, we would like to ask what the Congress did so differently in the past 41 years that they ruled Karnataka. The Congress says it wants a CBI probe into illegal mining. But wasn’t illegal mining going on when they were in power too? According to a Lokayukta interim report submitted to the government in 2008, Congress leaders too are involved in illegal mining. In fact, most of the leaders on the list are old timers such as former Minister M. Y. Ghorpade, Allum Veerabhadrappa, ex - Lok Sabha member H. G. Ramulu, former All India Congress Committee member S. M. Jain and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee General Secretary Abdul Wahab. The new Congressmen are only two — MP Anil Lad and his brother MLA Santosh Lad.

So is the Congress which is so disturbed by the “looting of State’s wealth” going on a padayatra to conduct a CBI probe on their own partymen also? Why are these leaders whose names are in the list of illegal mining even allowed to take part in the padayatra? If Congress was really sincere, then it should have suspended the Congress leaders who, according to Lokayukta, are involved in illegal mining and demanded that they too be investigated by the CBI. They could have always reinstated them back to their positions if the probe proved that they were innocent.

This padayatra has so far helped only one person and that is Siddharamaiah. No wonder he dances everywhere he goes. In fact, our opposition leaders are so fond of dancing that in the past 13 days they have performed the Kodava Dance, the Kamsale Dance, the Goravara dance, the Veerabhadra Kunita, Kanakadasa - style dance etc. Just yesterday we saw Siddharamaiah wearing a “Tipu Sultan” peta and dancing excitedly while wielding a long sword. May be this Dasara the Congress can have their own troupe and enthrall us. After all, they seem to have got all the practice.

But what is the point of all this? What is the message in this? A padayatra must be serious and must convey resolve. The people involved must stop at towns and enlighten the public about the issue that they are fighting for and convince the public to join them in the struggle. Dancing is inappropriate, uninformative and quite demeaning to the ideology of a padayatra. Did Mahatma Gandhi and his followers dance to the loud and crude beats of drums during the Dandi march? We seriously doubt that the British and the world would have taken Gandhi’s Dandi march seriously if he and his followers had stopped at every other town wearing a costume and dancing. No way. If it was done, then our freedom struggle would have become comical and every western nation would have been wary of supporting our cause.

There seems to be a new yatra within the padayatra, called “maya nadige” (Vanishing walk). It is being reported that party workers surround their leaders only when they see a news reporter or cameramen. Once the press leaves, the party workers desert their leaders and go sit in the cars that are following them.

Finally, are the Congressmen any different than BJP? I heard from a forest official who worked in Bellary during 1972 - 78 that it is not just politicians who have been illegally mining. He said one of India’s biggest private corporations, Bangalore’s most famous art connoisseur and the owner of a very famous transport company have been illegally mining for decades now. “The only reason this illegal mining issue has come out is because of the ‘hafta’ problem.”

And to back him, last evening Siddharamaiah once again stated, “Miners pay 30 - 40% “hafta” to Reddys.” It seems when honour among thieves is broken, padayatras start happening. It is reported the Reddy brothers were becoming so powerful in Bellary that they started demanding hafta even from politicians which exposed the otherwise quiet and unnoticed looting of our precious minerals which had been going on for years. Also why was the same Congress quiet when the same Reddy brothers were “allegedly” collecting haftas from private, small - time mine owners?

This padayatra has given a new lease of popularity for Siddharamaiah. It has also given him the respect that he lacked among Congress ranks. It has also given D. K. Shivakumar ulcers and realisation that his crown will be delayed by a few more years. But will the miners, Congress or others, be tried and prosecuted? Will we get our resources back? Will the irresponsible Congress government at the Centre increase the ridiculously cheap royalty fee of just Rs. 11 per lorry?

Unless these questions are answered, the padayatra will render itself nothing more than a weight loss programme for Congressmen.