After former Chief Minister SM Krishna, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday made personal appeals to Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar to end their Mekedatu Padayatre and assured the project would be undertaken by the end of March.

Bommai said he was ready to take all measures towards implementing the Mekedatu project by also taking the Opposition into confidence. Bommai said in a statement addressed to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.

He appealed to call-off the foot march to avoid spreading wide the coronavirus. The third wave of the coronavirus has intensified, which has affected people, especially children,” Bommai said.

This being the situation, it’s not right from a public health point-of-view to get people out together in large numbers for a padayatra and things like that. Even the High Court has taken a strong view on this, which also reflects the sentiment of the public,” he said.

“So, drop the padayatra now and let’s face Covid-19 together. In the coming days, let’s unitedly take steps on implementing Mekedatu,” Bommai said.