Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Dec 22: The Dakshina Kannada District Congress Committee staged a protest against the central government by taking out a padayatra in the city, which was stopped by the police at Mallikatte Junction on Monday December 22.

As part of the protest, Congress workers and leaders began a padayatra from the Congress Bhavan at Mallikatte towards the district BJP office. However, police intervened at Mallikatte Junction itself and stopped the procession, taking the protesting workers into custody.

The Congress had announced the padayatra in protest against the alleged move to change the name and structure of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The party also condemned what it termed as the misuse of the Enforcement Directorate by the central government in the National Herald case, accusing it of conspiring against senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Several senior leaders participated in the padayatra, including AICC Screening Committee member Vijay Inder Singla, Dakshina Kannada District Congress president Harish Kumar, Manjunath Bhandary, Ivan D’Souza, Mithun Rai and Ramanath Rai, among others. Police stopped the padayatra at Mallikatte Junction and detained the participating Congress workers and leaders, bringing the protest to a halt.